Mawnan Smith is approximately three miles south of Falmouth. This profile of Mawnan Smith Wesleyan Chapel has been compiled by Jo Lewis and Tony Mansell.
Mawnan Wesleyan Methodist Church is in Carwinion Road.
Wesleyan chapel, built 1848, plus Sunday school added late C19 (after 1880) on the left. Probably mid C19. Dressed granite front, scantle slate roof. 3-bay front with central pedimented bay broken forward. Old, possibly original, sashes with fanlight heads. Ground floor has doorway to left and right. Probably galleried originally. Sunday school has round-arched openings and oculus to front gable. Part of a good group of historic buildings. Listed in Stell (b1). (Cornwall Council Heritage Gateway)
Methodist chapel. Early C19. Coursed dressed granite front, otherwise killas rubble with granite dressings. Grouted scantle, slate hipped roof with pedimented gable at
the front end. Cast-iron ogee-section gutters. Plan: Rectangular aisle-less plan with fittings replaced circa late C19. Ground
floor only. Exterior: 2 storey front elevation. Symmetrical 1:1:1-bay road front with central bay broken forward and surmounted by a triangular pediment with moulded granite cornices; narrow doorway to each of the flanking bays; blocked window to the central bay; round-headed window to upper part of each bay with circa late C19 horned sashes with fanlight heads. Late C19 or early C20 ledged and braced doors. Round-headed window to middle of right-hand wall similar to front windows.
Interior: Simple plastered interior with circa late C19 pitch-pine pews sloping up towards the entrance front. Listing NGR: SW7787028662 (British Listed Buildings)
Mawnan Smith Wesleyan Chapel (Photo: Jo Lewis)
Mawnan Smith Wesleyan Sunday School (Photo: Jo Lewis)
25 Mar 1814: Lease, land and meeting house, Smith’s field, Carwinion, Mawnan. Parties: 1) William Williams of Grogeth, St Keverne, esquire 2) William Edwards of Mawnan, gentleman. Lease, 1) to 2), plot of ground marked out and including a meeting house in north west end, part of Smith’s Field, with adjacent garden, being part of Carwinion, with proper road to plot of ground. Term: 99 years. Lease, lives of lessee’s son Edward, Richard, son of Richard Ivey of Mawnan, yeoman, and Mary Ann, daughter of Sampson Humphreys. Rent: 20 shillings [Site of the first Wesleyan Methodist chapel, Mawnan]. (Kresen Kernow X399/136)
1815: Build date. (Mawnan Smith Methodist Church http://fandgmc.org.uk/j3/index.php/churches/mawnan-smith)
Built as a Wesleyan Methodist Chapel.
1848: Date given. (Cornwall Council Heritage Gateway) Possibly registration or re-registration date.
1859: Date given. (SWChurches / Kresen Kernow) Possibly registration or re-registration date.
1862: Recent enlargement and improvements. (Lake’s Falmouth Packet and Cornwall Advertiser – Saturday 24 May 1862)
1887: Gallery removed and extensive renovation undertaken. (Mawnan Smith Methodist Church http://fandgmc.org.uk/j3/index.php/churches/mawnan-smith)
1890: “MAWNAN. Mawnan Wesleyan Chapel is about to undergo extensive renovations, including reseating, new rostrum, and removal of gallery. Plans for the work have been prepared by Mr. Thomas Wonnacott, architect, Falmouth. A new trust deed has recently been prepared for the chapel property, and the trustees decided that the renovation of the chapel, which was greatly needed, should be taken in hand without delay.” (Lake’s Falmouth Packet and Cornwall Advertiser – Saturday 19 July 1890)
1902: Sunday School build date. (Mawnan Smith Methodist Church http://fandgmc.org.uk/j3/index.php/churches/mawnan-smith)
Part of Falmouth Wesleyan Circuit. (SWChurches)
1897-1921: Minutes and reports, Sunday School, Mawnan Wesleyan Chapel. Minutes, teachers’ meetings, and annual reports. (Kresen Kernow MRF/447)
1932: The Wesleyan, Primitive Methodist and the United Methodist Church amalgamated to become the Methodist Church of Great Britain.
1932: Became Mawnan Methodist Church. (SWChurches)
Part of Falmouth Methodist Circuit. (SWChurches)
1894-1952: Trust minutes, Mawnan Methodist Church. Kresen Kernow MRF/29)
1957-1971: Minutes, leaders’, society and church council, Mawnan Methodist Church. Signed minutes: leaders’, 1957-1968; society, 1970 and church council, 1971. (Kresen Kernow MRF/1150)
6 Mar 1872: Letter, Mawnan Chapel. Letter from John Freeman, Woodlane House, Falmouth to Frederick Hill, Helston concerning lease of ground for Mawnan Chapel, 6 March 1872. (Kresen Kernow RH/7/16/2/36)
1975-1976: Minutes, Church Council, Mawnan Methodist Church. Partially signed minutes. (Kresen Kernow MRF/1151)
2023: The chapel was put up for auction.
These photos were taken by Barry West in 2023
Barry West and Tommy Bray