St Endelienta is said to have asked that after her death her body be placed on a sledge cart drawn by young animals, and that she should be buried at the place where they stopped; this is where her shrine and subsequently the church was built.
The church that the late Sir John Betjeman poet laureate. wrote "Inside the church gives the impression that it goes on praying night and day, whether there are people in it or not". A modern carved angel in memory of Sir John Betjeman may be seen in the sanctuary above a slate tablet.
The font is Norman, though the oak cover was added in 1918 as a memorial to the dead of the first World war.
St Endellion's Collegaite Foundation dated back to the 13th century or earlier, when a college for a small group of priests-prebendaries-who dedicated their lives to, prayer and preaching. It escaped suppression in 1547 and again in the 19th century, and was rehabilitated in 1929 by Walter Frere,
Bishop of Truro and has continued to this day. Its statutes require the prebendaries to pray for one another, visit the church once a year, assist the rector in his charge, and celebrate the Holy Communion with special intention for the College at least annually.
14th century -at the east end stands the shrine of St Endelienta it is a fine example of medieval craftsmanship, having eight deep niches carved in the catacleuse stone, and is the work of the "Master of St Edellion".
Note. the banner beside the shrine depicts scenes from the life of St Endelienta and is based on the Icon of St Endelienta, painted by the modern icongrapher Benjamin Carver, and now in the Orthodox Monastery Surrey.
15th century- the building dates mainly from this period, but stands on the site of an earlier church. It is constructed from moor stone, but the tower was built of stone from Lundy Island, forty miles north and visible from the churchyard on a clear day. The splendid barrel roof with its rafters now exposed, reveals the carving on the principles. The rafters have angels at their feet.
The Roscarrock Chapel.
This contains the sixteenth-century tombstone of John Roscarrock, whose son Nicholas, composed the hymn of St Endelienta, normally used on the Saint's feast day, 29th April. Nicholas Roscarrock was a student of Exeter College where his Catholic sympathies were aroused and sustained. He was a friend of the Blessed Cuthbert Mayne, martyred in Launceston on 30th November 1575. A pure gold rosary, believed to have belonged to Nicholas Roscarrock may be seen in the Victoria and Albert Museum one of the beads of which depicts St Endelienta.
Note.
The Holy stoup by the south door is of catacleuse stone carved to depict the crests of three Cornish families- Chenduit, Roscarrock, and Pentire.