Mapping Methodism – North Street Wesleyan Association Chapel, Camborne
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Camborne is a town in Cornwall. This profile of North Street Wesleyan Association Chapel, Camborne, has been compiled by David Thomas.
This one comes from my collection and is very recently acquired. It is labelled on the back ‘trip from North Parade chapel’ which is of course Camborne. The 1850 chapel has gone and there are now flats on the site. It was closed about 40 years ago.
This bodes the question which section of the chapel is it as the subjects are nearly all women, though there are a couple of youngsters?
Methodist chapels had lots of weekday activities which were both religious and social. In this instance it could possibly be a trip for the Ladies Bright Hour, though the presence of a single adult male in the front row could suggest that this could be a Bible Class, with him as the possible leader.
So where did they go on their outing? The background and foreground provide few clues!
Judging by the clothes I would date this to around 1915 to 1920 and some of the ladies look rather down on their luck.
North Parade started out life as a Wesleyan Association chapel and then was the UMFC chapel in the town. The town centre once had five large chapels with 32 in the parish itself.
Pictures of its interior in the early days are hard to come by but over 30 years ago I managed to borrow this early postcard view of about 1902-1903 and copy it for posterity.
The chapel had a large and ornate rostrum or pulpit, decorative ceiling roses and the traditional gallery.
The organ shown is at least the second one installed as an earlier organ had an ornate Gothic style case.
There is a story told that at one revival meeting in the chapel a convert ran around the narrow, polished edge of the gallery shouting ‘hallelujah’. Religious fervour took precedence over a risk assessment!!
Many younger people today in Camborne would not even know that this large chapel once existed. It is part of our town’s vanished past and has very sadly entered the realms of oblivion.