Mapping Methodism – Skinners Bottom Primitive Methodist Chapel
Categories Mapping Methodism0 CommentsSkinner’s Bottom is a hamlet near Mount Hawke and Porthtowan. This profile of Skinners Bottom Primitive Meeting House has been compiled by Clive Benney and Tony Mansell.
1837 Chapel
1837: Society first appears. (“Primitive Methodism in Cornwall” by J C C Probert)
1837: Chapel opened. (1)
The first Primitive chapel in Skinners Bottom was probably this single storey buiding on the left when travelling from the village to Ivy Chimney. The front section was a single room built with cob walls. It has since been extended but the original roofline and windows mark this out as a former meeting house. (Photo: Tony Mansell)
1840: Society facing financial problems with £26 being needed to avoid having to sell the chapel. (1)
1875 Chapel
1875: New Chapel built on a site down the lane on the right after passing the Wesleyan Chapel in the centre of the village.
Built as a Primitive Methodist chapel. (SWChurches)
The project seems to have been plagued with financial problems.
1894: Trustees borrowed £90.
The Directors of the Primitive Methodist Chapel Aid Association Limited, from whom the money had been borrowed, were involved in lengthy correspondence with the Trustees.
1909-1910: Circuit papers refer to closure of the chapel. (1)
1910 to 1920: Remained on Circuit Plan but no services held. (1)
The chapel closed after 1911. (SWChurches)
£40 still owed to the Chapel Aid Association making it difficult to sell. (1)
1924: Freehold purchased.
1909-1924: Correspondence, Skinner’s Bottom Methodist Chapel. Correspondence from Primitive Methodist Chapel Aid Association Ltd concerning chapel, which closed some time after 1911. (Kresen Kernow MRR/3185)
Property sold
Circa 1980: The Primitive Chapel before being converted to a dwelling (Photo: courtesy Clive Benney)
Since then it has been used for egg packing, as a barn, for manufacturing wind surfing boards and finally as a dwelling – see photos below.
(Photo: Clive Benney)
(Photo: Clive Benney)
- “Primitive Methodism in Cornwall” by J C C Probert