Mapping Methodism – Trelights Wesleyan Methodist Association Chapel
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Map: https://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/side-by-side/#zoom=17.4&lat=50.57839&lon=-4.84069&layers=6&right=ESRIWorld
This profile of Trelights Wesleyan Chapel has been compiled by Jo Lewis and Tony Mansell.
First Trelights Wesleyan Methodist Association Chapel
Approaching the village from the north, the chapel is on the left before the centre of the village.
Local history puts this chapel under Bible Christian History and continues to describe the congregation as such but there is confusion with the original chapel (Chapel Villa). building
It is marked simply as Church on maps but Heritage Gateway describe it as Wesleyan (later United Methodist). It was in fact a Wesleyan Methodist Association Chapel and it is reported that it remained as such until 1857, when it became the United Methodist Free Church.
Heritage Gateway: Wesleyan** (later United Methodist) chapel with attached stable. Good vernacular example built of local rubble with rag slate roofs, the original chapel with a half-hipped roof and one sash window to road frontage and a doorway. https://www.heritagegateway.org.uk/Gateway/Results_Single.aspx?uid=MCO32673&resourceID=1020
** Surely Wesleyan Methodist Association.
This building is Grade 2 listed and listing states it is an 1831 building but it is not labelled on pre-1880 maps. There may be confusion with the original Bible Christian Chapel “The original Chapel was built from 1831 by subscriptions and the deeds drawn up in 1833; possibly finished in 1837”.
1857: The Wesleyan Methodist Association and the Wesleyan Reform Church amalgamated to become the United Methodist Free Churches
1857: Became a UMFC.
1887: Became the school room when the chapel next door was built.
The Schoolroom continued to function well when suppers are provided after Harvest Services and Sankey evenings and also as a meeting place for coffee mornings, Christmas and Summer Fayres plus local community groups and choirs.
1887 Trelights United Methodist Free Church
1886: “Memorial stones for a new chapel for the use of United Methodists at Trelights …” (Cornubian and Redruth Times – Friday 13 August 1886)
1887: the Brown family, who were carpenters in Trelights for generations, built a new Methodist Chapel, the Chapel on the Hill, in the space adjoining the old building (previous). Seating a congregation of about 50, it was built against the south wall of the first Chapel and connected by a removable panelled screen. The old building became the Schoolroom.
Heritage Gateway: 1887 chapel is a small Gothic style building with 3-bay front end; margin glazing to arched windows including arched head above central doorway. https://www.heritagegateway.org.uk/Gateway/Results_Single.aspx?uid=MCO32673&resourceID=1020
1887: New UMFC opened at Trelights. (Royal Cornwall Gazette – Friday 08 July 1887)
1907: The Methodist New Connexion, Bible Christians and United Methodist Free Churches amalgamated to become the United Methodist Church.
1907: Became a United Methodist chapel when the Trelights Bible Christians merged with the “Worshippers on the Hill”. It is reported that the Bible Christians took their lamps, harmonium and hymn books and the this chapel became their new home.
1932: The Wesleyan, Primitive Methodist and the United Methodist Church amalgamated to become the Methodist Church of Great Britain.
1932: Became Trelights Methodist Church.
1953: Schoolroom stage installed. (Newquay Express and Cornwall County Chronicle – Thursday 03 December 1953)
Information gleaned from: https://www.portisaacheritage.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Trelights-Chapel.pdf
Information gleaned from: https://bpwcircuit.com/trelights.html