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The Methodist Churches in St Keverne Parish
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John Wesley had a profound effect on the religious life of
Cornwall and, today, most towns and villages have a Methodist
chapel although in recent years chapel closure has been
fairly common. John Wesley had been making regular visits to
Cornwall since he came to St. Ives in 1743 but only once did
he preach south of Helston. On that one occasion (7th. September
1762) he preached at Mullion and this was the nearest that he
ever got to St. Keverne parish. Until Methodist Union in 1933
there was a St.Keverne Wesleyan Circuit but, since Union, the
chapels of the parish along with others in neighbouring
parishes have been in the Helston Circuit of the Methodist
Church.
At the turn of the Nineteenth century there were Wesleyan
chapels at St. Keverne, Coverack, Porthoustock, Tregarne and
Tregowris, Bible Christian chapels at Porthallow, Zoar,
Coverack (The Little Ship), Tregidden and Ponsongath and Free
Methodist chapels at Trenithon and Rosuick. Today there are
two Methodist churches in the parish - at St. Keverne and at
Ponsongath. Formerly, there were chapels at Porthallow,
Porthoustock, Coverack, Rosuick, Zoar, Tregowris, Tregarne
and Trenithon. The last three closed many years ago but
Porthoustock and Rosuick closed in the 1960s, Porthallow in
1987 and Zoar and Coverack in the 1990s.
The "first known" Wesleyan chapel at St Keverne
dates from 1839 (although there was without doubt an earlier
one). The chapel was built on part of Martin's Field, the
site of the present chapel, and the lease of land documents
dated 1838 and 1839 contain several long established St
Keverne family names including John Mitchell, James Mitchell
and John James. The chapel had a seating capacity for about
500 people. A gallery ran around the entire length of the
walls and there were choir stalls with vestries underneath on
the ground floor. Lighting was by means of oil lamps. In the
early hours of Saturday morning 11th. November 1905, a fire
broke out in the chapel. There was no fire brigade in those
days, so water had to be brought from wells in the chapel
yard and in the field behind Mr. Edwin James' blacksmiths
shop.
The building was burnt out and only parts of the gallery
remained. The damage was so extensive that the Trustees, on
the advice of the architect, decided to erect a new building.
A committee was formed and an appeal for funds was made with
Mr. Edwin Rule (Master Grocer of the Square) and Mr. William
James (Shoemaker of Laddenvean) as Treasurers and a letter
dated March 1906 was circulated, together with a drawing of
the new chapel.
The present Methodist Church was opened in March 1907 and at
the Golden Jubilee in 1957 Mr. Stuart Rule, the only
surviving member of the Trustees of the old chapel, recalled
that the building had cost £4,000 and that the new
organ did not arrive until 1908. In the meantime, Mr. Rule
accompanied the hymn singing on a harmonium. At the Jubilee
Service Mr. Rule was presented with a certificate to mark his
long association with the chapel, including some forty years
as organist and choirmaster.
In January 2003 a plaque was unveiled on the organ in memory
of Miriam Moyle M.B.E. who had been associated with music at
St Keverne chapel for almost 80 years, 34 of them as
organist. She was the granddaughter of William John Nicholls
who had been the organist in the old chapel for over thirty
years.
An early Methodist at St. Keverne was Nicholas Crago, a
labourer, and he is named in a list of the Cornwall West
Circuit No.18 the Society in Mullion 24th. June 1767. This
was only five years after John Wesley's visit. This
Nicholas Crago was probably the founder of a Methodist
Society in St Keverne somewhere between 1786 and 1793. These
dates are fairly accurate as in 1785 the only Methodist
Society in Meneage was the one at Mullion and the first
chapel at St Keverne was opened in 1793.
At the end of the Eighteenth century William Jenkins from
St. Keverne became a Methodist missionary. He was born on 27th.
May 1757 and was in the congregation at St Keverne Parish
Church on 18th. February 1770 when the spire and tower were
struck by lightning. This event appears to have been the
turning point in his religious life. After several years
spent at sea he returned home and soon joined the Methodist
Society at St Keverne, probably in 1793. In 1797 he became a
travelling preacher and, after spending a year in Launceston,
was appointed to the West Indies and so became the first
Methodist missionary from Cornwall..
The old custom of Methodist attendance at the parish church
for the morning service was maintained at St Keverne until at
least 1821 because the Wesleyan chapel in that year still
only had an evening service. In 1817, however, an incident
had occurred in St Keverne chapel which reached the Cornish
Press under the heading of "Warning to disturbers of
public worship". It reads:- I, Ely James of the parish
of St Keverne, yeoman, having been duly convicted, do hereby
acknowledge my unfeigned sorrow for disturbing the
congregation in the Methodist Chapel in St Keverne Churchtown
on the 13th day of February last. I agree to pay forty
shillings to be distributed to the poor of the parish in
bread. How serious the disturbance was is not noted - it
might have been no more than he was drunk.
On 31st. December 1876 a census was taken of the Wesleyan
Society membership for Cornwall. The St Keverne Circuit
details are as follows:-
| Name of Chapel |
When built |
Members of Society 1876 |
| St Keverne |
1839 |
150 |
| Coverack |
1861 |
70 |
| Manaccan |
1861 |
80 |
| St Martin |
1837 |
60 |
| Porthoustock |
1876 |
20 |
| Tregarne |
1846 |
13 |
| Tregowris |
1870 |
12 |
These figures do not include the membership of the Bible
Christian Chapels in the parish at Porthallow, Ponsongath,
Coverack, Tregidden and Zoar nor the UM Free Chapels at
Rosuick and Trenithon.
Bible Christian Magazines of the Nineteenth Century contain
obituaries for several St Keverne parish members. Alexander
Pengilly of Pednavounder died in 1896 and was buried at
Coverack. He had been a preacher in the Helston Bible
Christian Circuit for 52 years. Anthony Roberts died in 1848
and for many years had been a class leader at Ponsongath.
William and Dinah Exelby were members at Ponsongath for over
30 years (Dinah died in 1874 and William in 1885). Loveday
Exelby who died in 1855 was one of the earliest BC members at
Porthallow. Philippa Heyden of Boscarnon died in 1898 aged 66
and had been a member at Zoar since about 1863. Samuel Tripp
of Kernewas died in February 1898. He had been a member at
Zoar since 1873 and was active in the building of the new
chapel there in 1876. Arundel Ralph who died in 1894 was a
long standing member at Tregidden and established a Sunday
School there.
A Class register at the Coverack Bible Christian Chapel(The
Little Ship) was kept by Simon Keverne between 1865 and 1869
- he noted down attendance and the weekly payment which was
anything from nine pence to one shilling and sixpence. He
also indicated in his class book whether the members were
backsliders, wanderers or had been removed from the list. The
names on his register are Simon Keverne, Samuel Tripp, James
Exelby, Abraham Gay, James B Eustice, James Gay, George
Roberts, Alice Ivey, Elizabeth Pengilly, Avis Bray, Martha
Ivey, Rebecca White, Esther Roberts, Mary King, Elizabeth
Lambrick, John Richards, Matilda Gay, Thomas Gay, Thomas
White, Elizabeth Saunders, Eliza Ivey, Elizabeth Rule, James
Roberts, Martha Toy, Allen Pengilly and Jane Tripp. Most if
not all of these BC members at Coverack were
"Downsers" rather than residents of Coverack
village. I assume that the latter attended the Wesleyan
Chapel at Coverack whereas the people from the Downs went to
the BC chapel.
A postcard of St. Keverne Wesley decorated for Harvest
Festival 5th. October 1924 makes very interesting reading for it
gives a considerable amount of what was then the local news.
It was sent from St. Keverne on 15th. October 1924 to
Mr. W.G. Roberts of Tavistock. "St. Keverne Harvest
Festival decorations for you to see. Ratio Davies buried
today. Very quiet this way. Hugo Geri left St. Keverne on
Saturday for London for good. All send their love from
Volnay". ( The St. Keverne burial register reads: 15th.
October 1924 Horatio John Davies, 75, Trenance ).
Mr. Roberts was St Keverne born and a cousin of the Cogar family who
lived at Volnay, Porthoustock. In 1968 the BBC Songs of
Praise came from St. Keverne Methodist Church when the
singing was led by the church and chapel choirs, the male
voice choir and the girl's choir with Miriam Moyle as
organist and Hubert Hicks as conductor. The Girl's choir
was conducted by John Pearce (later Rev. John Pearce)
A strong choir was a feature of the Methodist church and
although none remain today there were choirs at St Keverne,
Coverack and Porthallow. In its heyday, St Keverne Wesleyan
choir had over 30 members and was capable of singing well
known oratorios. This choir ceased to exist in the late 1990s
but both Coverack and Porthallow lost their choirs in the
1960s.
Methodist Registers of baptisms and marriages are available
for look up only (at present) as follows - Baptisms at
Rosuick (1873-1969), Baptisms at Porthallow (1916-1979),
Baptisms at St Keverne (1843-1858 and 1874-1986) and
Marriages at St Keverne (1900- 1981). The St Keverne register
of baptisms for the period 1858-1873 appears to be
missing.
For further information about the history of Methodism in the St
Keverne Parish, contact
Terry Moyle who
has much material collected by the late Rev. Thomas Shaw.
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