Kerris is a settlement in west Cornwall three miles south-west of Penzance in the civil parish of Paul. Jo Lewis and Tony Mansell have compiled this profile of Kerris Wesleyan Chapel.
Kerris lies west of Newlyn. The Wesleyan Chapel and Sunday school are at the West edge of the village by the Kerris Roundago which is now the garden of the house including a standing stone.
1832 Chapel
1832: Build date. (Methodism in West Penwith – A Heritage at Risk)
1843: Build date. (SWChurches) Disparity in build date remains a mystery.
Built as a Wesleyan chapel. (SWChurches)
1860: Chapel was first registered.
1860: Certificate of registration, Kerris Wesleyan Chapel, Paul. Certificate of registration as a place of religious worship. (Kresen Kernow MRPZ/372)
1873: Survey states 96 seats. (Westy Penwith Resources
1878: Maps show a single rectangular building.
1886: Kerris Wesleyan Sunday School annual treat: “Saturday. The children met about one, and after their usual walk to Sheffield and back, by way of the Grove, headed by the Paul Brass Band, they were regaled with ample supply of cake and tea.” (20 May 1886 – The Cornish Telegraph)
1904: Became the Sunday school.
1904 Chapel
1903: Tenders invited for construction of chapel. (The Cornish Telegraph – Wednesday 01 July 1903)
1904: Build date. (Methodism in West Penwith – A Heritage at Risk)
1903: Laying the foundation stone for the new chapel. (The Cornish Telegraph – Wednesday 07 October 1903)
1904: Build date.
1904: Chapel opening ceremony. (The Cornish Telegraph – Wednesday 28 September 1904)
1904: Certificate of registration, Kerris Wesleyan Chapel, Paul. Certificate of registration as a place of religious worship. (Kresen Kernow MRPZ/378
1903-1906: Correspondence, construction of new chapel, Kerris Wesleyan Chapel, Paul. Correspondence with Wesleyan Chapel Committee about building a new chapel. (Kresen Kernow MRPZ/377)
1929: Certificate of registration, marriages, Kerris Wesleyan Chapel, Paul. (Kresen Kernow MRPZ/379)
1932: The Wesleyan, Primitive Methodist and the United Methodist Church amalgamated to become the Methodist Church of Great Britain.
1932: Became Kerris Methodist Church. (SWChurches)
1940: Seating for 120. (David Easton, Methodist Minister and historian)
1949: Closure date. (Methodism in West Penwith – A Heritage at Risk) Possible the Sunday school.
1953: Closure Date. (David Easton, Methodist Minister and historian)
1950s: Closure date. (SWChurches)
Converted to dwelling. (David Easton, Methodist Minister and historian)
The Chapel and school converted to dwelling and have been an artist’s residence.
It is now an Air BnB called ‘The Painters Chapel’.