1 May 2021

Mapping Methodism – Parade Street United Methodist Free Church, Penzance

This profile of Parade Street United Methodist Free Church, Penzance, has been compiled by Suzanne Trythall.

1851: foundation stone laid of original chapel to be built by J&J Perkins on the site of a former garden in Parade Street

1857: original chapel opened with a gallery being added later

1861: chapel was enlarged

1871: old houses which fronted the building were purchased and demolished

1875: a further extension was built but within 10 years it was clear that the chapel, vestry and schoolroom were inadequate to accommodate the growth in membership and Sunday School scholars

1889: original chapel was demolished

19 April 1889: foundation stones of the new United Methodist Free Church were laid. Two sealed bottles were placed in a cavity below the stones, containing an account of the ceremony, the names of the Circuit officers, the superintendent minister, builders, carpenters and architect as well as coins and copies of two newspapers. The chapel measured 64 feet by 30 feet, built with elvan from Castle-an-Dinas and dressed granite. Schoolroom was built under the chapel.

11 April 1889 The Cornishman

Architect: Oliver Caldwell of Morrab Terrace Penzance

Builders: Messrs Nicholas and Sons

Woodwork: WH Trounson

Stained Glass: supplied by Watson and Fouracre of Plymouth

Painting and glazing: John Peak of Causewayhead

Gas fittings: supplied by Hulett & Co of London, fitted by TB Stewart of Causewayhead

Encaustic tiles: Maw and Co of Shropshire, world’s largest factory and producer of tiles

Criddle and Smith of Truro and J & A Fuzzey of Market Jew Street supplied fixtures, fittings and other ‘adornments’

Ceiling centrepieces for revolving roof ventilators cast by Mr Tarafini of Plymouth

Organ: Hele & Co of Plymouth took the old organ and the new one cost £180

Cost of building and organ: £2,000 (£500 over original budget and with a debt of £1,450 outstanding on the building)

Capacity: 650 persons

1899: Trust Account Book records annual income of £4. 5s from rent on No. 6 Parade Passage and pew rents amounted to £17 3s 6d.

Chapel keeper salary £3.00, organist £3.15s and organ blower 16s

An early postcard photo of chapel with gas lamps and railings. ‘United Methodist Free Church’ is inscribed in masonry above the double doors.

January 1892: Trustees granted the use of the furnace room to enable a soup kitchen to be set up. On the first day it fed about 60 women and children with soup and 30 with 1d worth of bread before supplies ran out.

1907: chapel became Parade Street United Methodist Church and was head of its own Circuit

1921-23: renovation of the exterior, new gas fittings installed and organ reconditioned

1932: chapel became known as Parade Street Methodist Church and continued to run its own Circuit. Trust Account Book records annual income from pew rents £41.12s. Caretaker salary £25.00, organist £20 and organ blower £5.

November 1940: Free Church Evacuation Centre opened in the schoolroom

September 1941: chapel received bomb damage to the roof, two windows and the organ. War damage insurance of £22 10s had been paid. Repairs were carried out by Mr H Rogers of Bread Street for £850 with £50 to replace the two windows. Final account was submitted April 1946. Organ repairs were estimated at £178 10s by Hele & Co.

1941-1946: Services were held in the Schoolroom

July 1946: re-opening of the chapel with two days of celebration

Photo of document AD2403/11 Archives and Cornish Studies Service, Redruth: front cover of programme of events to celebrate re-opening of the chapel

August 1946: new stained glass window unveiled in memory of Elizabeth Ladner 1865-1942

September 1946: new stained glass window depicting Dorcas unveiled in memory of Ann Kennard 1860-1945

January 1968: the Methodist Church Department for Chapel Affairs sanctioned the sale of the chapel

Membership at closure was 100

April 1968: offer of £3,500 for the building was accepted from the Penzance Players plus £50 for the pews. The organ was to be sold for as much as they could get, but it was in very poor condition according to Hele & Co. The memorial windows were removed and boarded up at a cost of £50. The pulpit was removed by voluntary labour. Proceeds of the sale were handed to the Senior Steward of the Penzance Circuit and distributed in varying amounts amongst eight local chapels.

1970s: funding secured from the Arts Council and the chapel ground floor and balcony were converted to a 250-seat auditorium

1979: renamed Penzance Arts Centre

1980-1996: Centre was in crisis and on brink of closure, being threatened with re-use as a furniture store

1996-2010: the old chapel was in urgent need of refurbishment and modernisation. There was dry rot in the timbers and access was difficult. A lottery grant and other funding were secured and Parade Street Chapel became ‘The Acorn’.

Photo permission of The Acorn Manager: theatre auditorium in former chapel