The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 8 letter word PROVENCE
I've seen this crossword clue in The Times
P
R
O
V
E
N
C
E
More clues leading to the result PROVENCE
- A knight leaving birthplace somewhere in France
- Demonstrated in front of church somewhere in France
- Church backs professional cleric in French region
- Demonstrated as true Church here in France
- Established church in French region
- French region with foresight to drop identity
- … in favour of another nearby French department
- Part of France‘s established church
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "somewhere in France" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case somewhere in france = provence.The cryptic/wordplay part
In cryptic crossword there's often an wordplay/cryptic part as well.This part involves a more complex hint, such as an anagram, homophone, hidden word, etc.
Sadly, We don't have an explanation for this specific crossword clue yet.