Said to be one of those around the nave (5)
I believe the answer is:
spoke
'nave' is the definition.
The definition and answer can be both man-made objects as well as being singular nouns.
Maybe there's a link between them I don't understand?
I can't explain the rest of the clue.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for spoke that I've seen before include "Rung" , "gave a lecture" , "gave address" , "Radiating rod" , "Said something" .)