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Churches of the British Isles

Gallery: Churches of Cornwall

by Jo Lewis, 6 March 2020. Updated 11 May 2020

Restormel (South) Part 17: Churches of Rescorla to Menacuddle

Rescorla Mission Room, Rescorla, Cornwall

Rescorla Mission Room seems truly lost. The Cornwall Industrial Settlements Initiative (CISI) for Bugle and Stenalees documents an unsectarian mission room at Rescorla. The same mission is also noted in Kelly's Directory, 1902. However, OS maps of the late Victorian period and early twentieth century show nothing so perhaps its existence was brief. Scol de Sul Cottage, fifty metres south-west of the chapel, used to house a Sunday School so perhaps a mission too.

Penwithick (First) Wesleyan Methodist Chapel, Penwithick, Cornwall

Penwithick (First) Wesleyan Methodist Chapel was at the south-east corner of the junction between Penwithick Road and Hallaze Road, immediately south of Rescorla. The chapel was built in 1906 following a stone-laying ceremony on the Easter Monday. The building was soon found to be too small for its growing congregation so a replacement site was selected next door (to the right here). The old building (now lost to Chapel Court's houses) became a Sunday School.

Penwithick (Second) Wesleyan Methodist Chapel, Penwithick, Cornwall

Penwithick (Second) Wesleyan Methodist Chapel stands on the eastern side of Penwithick Road, just thirty metres south of the junction with Hallaze Road. This second chapel was built in 1914 to replace the earlier building right next door, with fund-raising taking place in 1913-1915. In 1935 'Wesleyan' was dropped from the title thanks to the Methodist union. For a century the old building served as a Sunday School before being demolished around 2005.

Treverbyn Old Chapel, Treverbyn, Cornwall

Treverbyn Old Chapel stood on the northern flank of Treverbyn Manor Chapel, the remnants of which are known as Treverbyn Farm. The site lies a kilometre due east of Resugga Green and Penwithick. Treverbyn was a Domesday manor, home to the Treverbyn family. The chapel served as their place of worship and laying to rest, but was also open to the local public until Holy Trinity Church at St Austell was erected in 1169. This chapel closed at the time of the Reformation.

Trethurgy Wesleyan Methodist Chapel, Trethurgy, Cornwall

Trethurgy Wesleyan Methodist Chapel is on the western side of Chapel Lane, around 150 metres north of the Tregrehan junction, due south of Treverbyn via Knightor. Trethurgy (or Trethurgey) chapel was built in 1862, as shown on its date stone. A Sunday School was built next to the chapel, and this also survives today, with both serving as private residences. Chapel records go up to 1985, with planning approval for conversion to private residences being seen in 1986.

Menacuddle Well Chapel and St Guidel's Chapel, St Austell, Cornwall

St Guidel's Chapel and Menacuddle Well Chapel (the former baptistery - 'mena' is Cornish for 'sanctuary' and 'cuddle' is a contortion of St Guidel) lay on the right-hand side of the lane and St Austell River, about seventy metres north-west of the B3274 junction. The nearby chapel was built for the reputed healing powers of the waters, probably about the same time as the baptistery in the 1300s. Both were attached to Tyrwardreath Priory, and were abolished by the Reformation.

Five photos on this page by Jo Lewis, and one kindly contributed by Jolyon Vincent via the 'History Files: Churches of the British Isles' Flickr group. Additional information by Paul Barnett, from Kelly's Directory of Cornwall (1902), from The History of Cornwall: From the Earliest Records and Traditions, Volume 2, Samuel Drew (Ed), 1824, and from Holy Wells of Cornwall, J Meyrick (1982).

 

 

     
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