Roseworthy is a hamlet west of Camborne. This profile of Roseworthy Wesleyan Chapel has been by Jo Lewis and Tony Mansell.
1774 Chapel
1774: Build date.
Built as a Wesleyan Chapel.
The 1820s is said to have, “Perhaps replaced an earlier building”. (Checklist of Churches in the Hayle Circuit on the 31st August 1961)
1820s Chapel
Located at the top of Old Mill Lane.
Wayside Wesleyan chapel, rebuilt 1986 in approximate facsimile but deleted from statutory list of listed buildings in 1999 as there is no survival of original historic fabric. Rendered walls replacing lime-washed stone and cob under a wheat-reed thatched roof. Round-arched windows with spoked fanlight heads. Present building was an attempt to replicate the original chapel that was arguably the most picturesque Methodist chapel in Cornwall and likely to have been upgraded in 1999 if it had survived intact. Listed and illustrated in Stell with plan and external and internal photographs (b1). (Cornwall Heritage Gateway)
1820: Build date. (Checklist of Churches in the Hayle Circuit on the 31st August 1961)
1825: Build date. (Cornwall Heritage Gateway)
Built as a Wesleyan Chapel.
The interior was rectangular without an isle with the entrance initially at the southeast end but later moved to the southwest wall.
1894: Roseworthy Tea Treat (Photo: W J Bennetts courtesy Paul Phillips)
Roseworthy Chapel (Photo: courtesy Barry West)
1909: “Roseworthy. The annual treat was held on Monday in fine weather. The scholars headed by the Camborne Town Band, proceeded to Polstrong garden. A public tea was provided, which was largely attended.” (15 July 1909 – Cornubian and Redruth Times)
1932: The Wesleyan, Primitive Methodist and the United Methodist Church amalgamated to become the Methodist Church of Great Britain.
1932: Became Roseworthy Methodist Church.
1940: Seating for 109. (David Easton, Methodist Minister and historian)
1941: “ROSE WORTHY. The congregation at Roseworthy Chapel on Sunday., one of Cornwall’s oldest and’ smallest Methodist places of worship, numbered two. It was a very wet day, and this was mainly responsible for such an unhappy situation, but the weather did not prevent the preacher from turning up and conducting the service, according to the arrangements. The preacher was Mr. P. Goldsworthy, and he had walked from Leedstown, a distance of about six miles, and he walked back again after the service. One member of the congregation had cycled from Camborne, there was only one attendant from the village of Roseworthy. The chapel has a thatched roof and is lit by oil lamps. (Cornishman – Thursday 27 February 1941)
1940: ROSEWORTHY. The publication in last week’s Cornish Post the plight of the old, thatched chapel at Roseworthy following gale damage to the roof, had an immediate response. On the following day, a Penzance motor cyclist, haying read the account of the Post, handed to Automobile Association a Patrolman Beckerlet, who was on duty at Conner Downs, and asked him to pass the money on to the treasurer the chapel as a start to the £5 needed. This the road scout did., and other sums have since been promised by former Roseworthy men now resident in other parts of the district…” (Cornishman – Thursday 26 December 1940)
1941: “OLDEST CORNISH METHODIST CHAPEL. Roseworthy roof repaired. After the lapse of nearly a year, during which time efforts have been made to raise the necessary money, the repairs to the thatched roof of Roseworthy Methodist Chapel, damaged in a gale, have been completed and the little building, the oldest of its kind in the county, is wind and weatherproof. The work has been done by Mr. W. Osborne, of Roseworthy, and the necessary funds have been handled and partially collected by Mrs. E. J. Pellow, who was assisted in the work her late husband…” (Cornishman – Thursday 04 December 1941)
1956: Chapel image. (https://www.ribapix.com/methodist-chapel-roseworthy-cornwall_riba18124#)
1956: Organ details. (https://www.ribapix.com/methodist-chapel-roseworthy-cornwall-the-organ_riba6872#)
1975: Closure. (David Easton, Methodist Minister and historian)
Sold.
1974-1976: Correspondence and papers, sale of Chapel, Roseworthy Methodist Church, Gwinear. (MRCB/236)
Became a dwelling. (David Easton, Methodist Minister and historian)
1986: Re-built / Converted. (Cornwall Heritage Gateway)
Became holiday accommodation.
Roseworthy Chapel (courtesy Barry West)
My mother’s family have close connections with Roseworthy Chapel and the area around it. My great-grandparents lived there, my grandparents were married in the chapel and my mother was christened there. So sad that the chapel closed down – but that’s the fate of a lot of small chapels in the area