St Michael and All Angels stands, not on top of a hill, but in a very pretty position beside a stream on the side of a hill, in its own churchtown consisting of a few former farm buildings. Across the valley stands St Juliot’s church and Minster church is not far away.

Like Jacobstow, Lesnewth is blessed with a tall three-stage tower out of proportion to the importance of the church.

The big re-construction was in 1865 by JP St Aubyn who downsized it by taking off two transepts and creating a vestry. One wonders whether the architect of St Juliot – one T Hardy, architect, author and poet – took inspiration for his re-arrangement there from this work.

Inside, the scale is almost domestic, largely well-maintained although there was evidence of damp on the Victorian encaustic tiles in the chancel. We were expecting a classic St Aubyn dark-wood wind-braced roof, but the ceiling is actually simple and elegant and looks more like a C20 re-modelling.

The font is a simple lump of granite, no doubt C19, while the simple pulpit again defies connection with St Aubyn, being a very simple wooden structure, wholly in keeping with the rest of the church.

Outside, a large wayside cross guards the small bridge across the stream.

As with St Juliot, it is very hard to see a future for this as an active church but until someone works out how to convert a church and its tower for a more productive use, it will remain.

Thomas Hardy’s influence has spread across the valley for a notice in the porch reminds us of the problems of sharing a hymn sheet.