Philip Clear
One of the most-visited graves in Veryan churchyard is that of Philip Clear, described on his headstone as ‘a Christian soldier’. He enlisted in the 32nd regiment of Foot in 1809 and fought through the Peninsular Campaign of the Napoleonic wars, only to return home to Veryan and die in 1829 ‘of a decline’. He was only 40 years old.
A few years ago the 32nd Foot re-enactment group fired a musket volley over his grave, to the great excitement of parishioners and schoolchildren.