TEMPLE CHURCH – KNIGHTS TEMPLAR & CORNWALL’S GRETNA GREEN, Bodmin Moor, Cornwall, UK

Temple is a small, isolated village on Bodmin Moor now completely bypassed by the A30. The delightful atmospheric little 1120 church is comfortably settled in the moorland landscape with historic connections with the Knights Templar. Dedicated to St. Catherine, the church stands on the site of the earlier Templar chapel.
The Knights Templar were an elite fighting force of their day, highly trained, well-equipped, and highly motivated; one of the tenets of their religious order was that they were forbidden from retreating in battle, unless outnumbered three to one, and even then only by order of their commander, or if the Templar flag went down. Not all Knights Templar were warriors. The mission of most of the members was one of support – to acquire resources which could be used to fund and equip the small percentage of members who were fighting on the front lines. 
Even today it has no electricity. It is the second church in the Parish of Blisland, but the dual carriageway has cut Temple off from Blisland. The church is open 365 days a year, 24 hours a day. The association with the Knights Templar makes it popular with visitors, and it is also on the St. James route to Compostela.
Local tradition has it that pilgrims travelling from Ireland were in the habit of avoiding the hazards of sailing round Land's End by going up the Padstow estuary, probably as far as Wadebridge, and then overland to the Fowey river. Padstow was an important port and Fowey probably the busiest harbour on the South coast, from which many travellers from the West Country would have embarked for Europe. So, perhaps it was natural for the Templars to build their church and refuge on the moor to accommodate travellers who passed over this wild stretch of country on their way to the Holy Land.
It is unknown exactly in what year the 12th c. church, dedicated to St. Catherine of Alexandria, was built. It stands today on the site of the earlier Templar chapel, and after 1312, the Templars were no longer at the property as it was turned over to the Knights Hospitaller.
Later, particularly in the 16th c., this church became famous as a place where marriages could be performed without banns or license, e.g., similar to Gretna Green, up until recently. In 1753 such marriages became illegal, and after this point, the Temple church lost its congregation and fell into serious disrepair; no services were held for nearly a century.
In 1850, a fund was started for its restoration. The new plans followed closely those of the original Templar church. It was re-opened in 1883. Services are still held to-day by candlelight.