Mapping Methodism – Rose Wesleyan Chapel

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Rose is a hamlet to the north-west of Goonhavern and east of Perranporth. This profile of Rose Wesleyan Chapel has been compiled by Karin Easton, President of the Federation of Old Cornwall Societies and member of Perranzabuloe OCS.

 

Rose Chapel Circa 1900 (Photo courtesy Goonhavern Old Cornwall Society)

Information taken from Rose: the story of a village and its people by Roger Glanville, October 2003*.

1804, May 20th: Earliest known Chapel in a barn in the yard of Mount Farm with a sermon by Rev. Richard Robartes of Trispen.

 

1828: A building at Lower Rose used (later becoming a pub). Here the Sunday School was founded.  It was 1905 before a dedicated building was erected for the Sunday School. Funding was raised from Rosillians from all over the world. The cost was £633 7s and 2d for a new Wesley Hall and new pews and windows in the Chapel. The Sunday School Anniversary was on the second Saturday in July, services being held both in the Chapel and Perran Round, a medieval playing place nearby. Roger Glanville describes these occasions well in his book, the day ending with couples pairing up to follow the band round the field in the Serpentine Walk.

1839: April 30th, a 99-year lease of land acquired at Rose Lane End from the Manor of Tywarnhayle, the ground rent being 2s.6.d a year. William Penna and John Alleyn, who had negotiated the lease, were two of the first trustees.

1840: A Band of Hope was formed. Many villagers took the pledge but still had the odd drink for “medicinal purposes”.

1851 Sunday March 3rd: the national religious census gave the figures at Rose as MORNING 110, EVENING 270 (general congregation) and SUNDAY SCHOLARS 20.

1865: With the increase in attendance a gallery and porch were added adding 60 to the seating capacity.

(Photo: courtesy Barry West)

By 1874 it was noted that Rose Chapel had an annual income of £28 and no debt “unlike other places”.

1875: Legal problems arose as only 3 original trustees were alive, two of them being in America. When a new trust was formed there were 10 miners out of 13, but 23 years later only 3 out of 13 were miners.

1898: According to Roger Glanville in his book, the Trust was renewed but was not registered with the Charity Commission, an oversight!

1935: After Methodist Union, the trust had to obtain special dispensation to renew the trust as legally there were no existing trustees.

Much of the social life for Rosillians (residents of Rose) revolved around Chapel events – Chapel Anniversary, Tea Treats, Harvest Festival and Christmas involved most of the village and were the highlights of their lives. Weekly Prayer Meetings that sometimes lasted 3 or 4 hours originally and Bible Classes were assiduously held with non-attendees being followed up by a home visit to seek the reason for absence.

1840s-1930s: The Band of Hope had its own choir and worked with the Fife and Drum Band and Chapel Orchestra, even having their own Tea Treat on the third weekend in July to raise money for charity. By the 1920s numbers were decreasing and the Band of Hope was replaced by a Wesley Guild led by two younger members, Harry Penna and Dick Glanville.

Roger Glanville recalls that how the most popular event for young people was the monthly social in the Sunday School. Games like Postman’s Knock were played and the boys could chase the girls and maybe walk them home afterwards “without being accused of strolloping” as Roger’s grandmother would call it.

1952 and 1964: evangelism campaigns were carried out to promote the Chapel with members visiting people in their homes.

1955: fund raising to renovate the Chapel commenced.

1975: further fund raising for £120 to install electric lighting and heating.

1983: Struggling for its existence with so many older members and young people moving away, the unhappy decision was made to close the Chapel and sell it. Renovations to Wesley Hall next door to the Chapel cost £30,000 with a further £2,000 to install the pipe organ from the recently closed local Perranwell Chapel. Four years later the building was re-opened with a dedication service held on August 1st.

2003: Rose Chapel had 9 members with an average congregation of about 16 for Sunday morning services. There was no longer a Sunday School for young people.

2021: Fund raising commenced for the Chapel’s survival.

 

Rose Chapel and Music

Roger Glanville tells us that, until the early 1890s, music was provided by an orchestra. Part of this orchestra was “Fiddler Jim Richards” who made such a great contribution to the Methodist Church’s music in South Australia.

On Christmas Eve the Fife and Drum Band along with the 60 members of the Band of Hope Choir toured Rose and district playing and singing carols while liberally sampling all the “erby beer” [therefore no alcohol!] in the many houses they visited. The music was mainly Christian and at Christmas came into its own with Cornish Carols. After their final call at Hendra Goth, they walked home playing and singing all the way, claiming they had seen a ghost at Thommascotty which was reputed to be haunted.

The organists who played at Rose Chapel were long serving, Mary Taylor playing for 54 years from 1904.

*Rose: the story of a village and its people, the Rosillians, by Roger Glanville, first published 2004 by Mrs. M. Glanville, Sunnyside, Rose, Truro, Cornwall, TR4 9PH.

(Photo: courtesy Barry West)

 

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