Goonbell is a hamlet near St Agnes. This profile of Goonbell Methodist Chapel has been compiled by Clive Benney & Tony Mansell.
c1890 – Goonbell Wesleyan Chapel or Meeting House (Photo: courtesy Clive Benney)
c1890 – Goonbell Wesleyan Chapel or Meeting House (Photo: courtesy Clive Benney)
A Wesleyan Methodist chapel is recorded at Goonbell on the 1st and 2nd Editions 1:2500 OS 1880 and 1907 Maps. It is located along a lane to the south of Primitive Methodist chapel 138108. (Cornwall Heritage Gateway)
We have been unable to discover when this Chapel was built or if its initial use was as a place of worship.
1850s: The first reference to it was on the Wesleyan Preachers’ Plan but, even then, it only appeared for a few years. Of course, it may well have been in use earlier and simply not provided with regular preachers.
1888 to 1895: The Plan included Goonbell again and a new entry, the tiny Chapel at White Street, Mithian Downs. Neither held regular meetings.
1899: St Agnes Wesleyan Society were paying the ground rent and cleaning costs.
1903 – March: An entry in the St Agnes Wesleyan Chapel minute book referred to its dangerous condition. It was said to be so bad that meetings had to be held at Goonown Chapel.
1903 – October: Members of the congregation had finished the repair work and the little sanctuary was re-opened. The Revd G W Thompson preached the sermon and in the evening the Revd W Hodson-Smith presented a lecture entitled “From Liverpool to Rome.” It should have been illustrated but the lantern borrowed from Mount Hawke failed to work; it was said to have given off clouds like a traction engine and filled the house with smoke.
1907 – October to 1908 January : Included on the Wesleyan Methodist Church – North Cornwall Mission preachers’ plan.
1916: St Agnes Wesleyan Society ceased paying the ground rent and cleaning costs which probably indicates that, by then, the building was no longer in use as a place of worship.