Treskillard is a hamlet south-east of Camborne. This profile of Tresillard Primitive Metodist Chapel has been compiled by Suzanne Trythall.
1863: chapel built by public subscription on ground belonging to the Boconnoc estate with seating for 90 (40 pew sittings and 50 free).
Cost was £70 with outstanding debt of £35 on completion.
1866: Sunday attendance 80
1867: Primitive Methodist Connexion Schedule records the chapel had no deed. They paid no rent therefore reported it as a Connexional property ie ‘a chapel where we preach without paying any rent’. Estimated value of chapel £100, members 19 with average Sunday attendance of 80 and weekdays of 40. There was also a Sabbath School. Balance in hand on 1st January 1866 was £8 4s 6d.
1868: Sunday School accounts begin. One item of expenditure was 6 dozen Pilgrim’s Progress costing 6s.
1871: Primitive Methodist Connexion Schedule records debt had been reduced to £18 17s 3d. Income £7 16s 6d and outgoings £3 15s 2 1/2d. Congregation 90 at principal services. Chapel refused to give any statement of accounts on the balance sheet.
Statement from the chapel in the 1871 ‘Schedules, accounts, Primitive Methodist Connexion, Redruth Station.
1881: recorded in the census as Peace Wesleyan Chapel
1882: indenture signed for lease of premises at Higher Treskillard between Andrew Harper Michell, gentleman of Penzance and (amongst others) Mr Joseph Parkin of Treskillard, miner
Chapel lease 1882
1884: On 14 May 1884 Capt W Rambling laid a cornerstone of the enlargement of the chapel with a silver trowel presented by Mr John Jewell. Addresses were given by Rev W H Matthews and Rev J Phillips. A tea and public meeting followed, proceeds £34 9s 6 1/2d.
Sunday attendance 150
1889: Captain W H Richards laid a stone on 28 August for the addition of a Sunday School on the end of the chapel. In connection with the school there was a library and a burial club.
1905: annual tea treat held in a field lent by Miss Grace Hocking. Hayle Band attended.
28 Feb 1907: lease signed between John Bevill Fortescue of Boconnoc and the Treskillard Trustees for 21 years from 29 Sept 1906 at a rent of 10s. Covenant stated the use of the premises was to be wholly devoted to religious worship. The Trustees had set up a private trust and regarded themselves as independent of the local circuit. The round plaque on the front gable of the chapel was changed from PMC (Primitive Methodist Chapel) to TMC (Treskillard Methodist Chapel). They stated Rev Richard Henry Quick of the Redruth Circuit had no jurisdiction over them and held their meetings in the nearest pub (now the Countryman at Piece). The freehold owner sold the freehold to Rev Quick who attended the chapel to claim it. However the Trustees locked him out so he climbed in through an open window. Matters went unresolved as Rev Quick owned the freehold of the land and the Trustees owned the building.
Photo of document F/3/7/27 Archives and Cornish Studies Service, Redruth
Lease of 28 February 1907
Travelling evangelist Mr Terrill photographed outside Treskillard Chapel by W J Bennetts of Camborne in March 1910. Photo courtesy of David Thomas.
17 March 1915: John Bevill Fortescue of Boconnoc sold the site of Treskillard Chapel to the Trustees for £20. Chapel was valued at £550 and the site £10.
December 1917: congregation refused to open their doors to the minister, as scheduled on the circuit plan.
Page from Roll Book of class members 1916
1918 to 1926: chapel did not appear on the circuit membership list. This was due to the lease being held by the Trustees, who retained it until it ran out in 1926. Forty members were removed from the circuit roll, having refused to receive their tickets in 1918. In November 1925 the chapel’s first assessment was paid, although the lease still had two years to run.
1932: became known as Treskillard Methodist Church
1938: plate inside ‘News Chronicle Song Book’, presented to my mother, aged nine
27 March 1980: application for closure, membership was 13 and the chapel was to be sold
1981: Derek Bell purchased chapel for £7,250. The chapel was used as a store for cleaning materials for many years.
Photo: undated, from Methodism in Illogan by Thomas Shaw
Photo: chapel being used as a store for cleaning materials; the TMC round plaque can be seen on the front gable, also the outline of the two original arched windows
Photos below: postcards of Treskillard tea treats in 1907 and 1915; the final two are undated
Photos: February 2022
The chapel has been converted into three terraced houses, using the shell of the old building with additions including dormer windows and a porch. In 2012 one sold for £168,000.
Sources and further reading
Newspaper:
- Cornubian and Redruth Times (Find My Past)
Books:
- ‘Primitive Methodism in Cornwall’ by J.C.C. Probert (1966)
- ‘Methodism in Illogan 1743-1958’ by Thomas Shaw (1958)
Website:
- My Primitive Methodists
- Nostalgic Redruth, Fb
Map: The National Library of Scotland
Kresen Kernow