Condurrow is a small hamlet on the southern outskirts of Camborne. It lies in the heart of mining country, just off the Great Flat Lode and overlooking Condurrow and Grenville mines. This profile of Lower Condurrow Wesleyan Chapel has been compiled by Suzanne Trythall.
c1841: Lower Condurrow Wesleyan Chapel opened
29 October 1850: received certificate of registration as a place of worship
Cover map shows chapel location in 1888.
1899: William Cole Pendarves granted extension of ground for chapel at a nominal rent
10 April 1899: three stones laid by Mr Fred Uren, Mr G Pryor and Mr CO Williams at window level, with a fourth remaining blank
1904: Trustees sought approval for plans for building of a vestry
1905: re-opening ceremony after the sanctuary had been partly re-built and altogether re-modelled. A new vestry had been built and the chapel painted throughout. Mr S Williams of Tuckingmill ‘dismantled a silver tree’ which produced £21 1s. A well attended tea followed in the adjoining field. A report was read by Mr Dunn showing they had enough money in hand to pay off a large portion of the expense. A gratifying feature was the subscriptions sent home by their young men now in foreign mining camps (The Cornishman 13 July 1905).
1908 map showing ground plan of chapel
Photo taken about 1920: courtesy of David Thomas
1926: income from seat rents £1 7s 6d
1932: became Lower Condurrow Methodist Church
1936: memorial service held for Mrs Adolphus (Annie) Evans, a former member of the congregation, who had died in South Africa. Her son Monty unveiled a memorial tablet and gave a pulpit chair which had been ‘beautifully designed’ in South Africa.
1949: received £18 donation from the sale of Higher Condurrow Methodist Church
1950: a wrought iron entrance gate was given by Edith Richards in memory of her husband Ernest Richards, with plaque dated 4 May 1950
Photo of chapel late 1960s/early 1970s: courtesy of Mr Edwin Thomas
1975: Trustees increased the insurance to cover £10,000
1979 programme for Harvest Thanksgiving and 1980 advertisement for a country fayre in aid of chapel repair fund: courtesy of Mr Edwin Thomas
1985: last entry in chapel accounts book. The Condurrow Chapel Improvements Committee had raised a large amount of money to keep the chapel open. The funds remained with the village when the chapel closed.
1986: meeting of the Church Council led by Rev Alan Francom to finalise the distribution of equipment
Crockery used in the chapel. The cups with the gold handles are Coalport, manufactured c1891 to c1920. Photo: courtesy of Mr Edwin Thomas.
Undated photograph of the two harmoniums in the chapel.
Two of the organists were Maud Roberts and Barry Trenowden.
Photo courtesy of Mr Edwin Thomas who rebuilt the instrument on the right which was sold to a buyer in America when the chapel closed.
Photo 2021: the chapel has been partly converted to residential use, but is not lived in at the present time
Sources and further reading:
Newspapers: Cornubian and Redruth Times
The Cornishman (Find My Past)
Maps: The National Library of Scotland
Kresen Kernow