Take place of wretch bolstering bare rock (5)
I believe the answer is:
occur
'take place' is the definition.
(synonyms)
'of wretch bolstering bare rock' is the wordplay.
I cannot really understand how this works, but
'of' could be 'o' and 'o' is found within the answer.
'wretch' could be 'cur' (cur can mean a despicable person) and 'cur' is found in the answer.
A single letter 'c' remains which might be clued in a way I don't see.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for occur that I've seen before include "exist" , "Turn up" , "Spring to mind" , "Befall" , "found" .)