Churches of the British Isles

The Old Baptist Chapel is on the northern side of River Street, and is now the eastern wing of Truro Museum (itself formerly the Savings Bank). When Truro and Chacewater Baptists joined, they rented the now-lost Presbyterian Meeting House in Kenwyn Street (built in 1708) and stayed for sixty years. In 1847 they took the present River Street site, then part of 'Matthew's tenement'. The work took from 2 November 1848 to January 1850. The museum acquired it in 1986/7.

Three buildings down from the Old Baptist Chapel (see above), the two spires of Bethesda Congregational Chapel are visible here. The two buildings in-between survive in 2017 (with the chapel's white western wall still visible alongside 'White Stuff'). A Truro Independent Church was first formed in 1761. Some followers took the Old Cock Pit in 1769, and in 1776 they erected Bethesda. Replaced in 1857, the new building was sold in 1932 for Truro Rural District Council's offices.

Kenwyn Street United (Primitive) Methodist Chapel lies on the northern side of Kenwyn Street, about twenty metres west of Calenick Street. This building was constructed in 1878, later becoming a United Methodist Free Church and then a City Mission. Closed in the last decade of the twentieth century, it is now Grade 2 listed, and is noted as being a dressed granite, ornately-styled Gothic building. In 2005, it housed a bar called 'The One Eyed Cat', later replaced by Hubbox.

Salvation Army Citadel can also be found on Kenwyn Street, on the southern side opposite a long, single-storey pub building which in 2017 was known as the Redruth Brewery Company Limited. Entry to the citadel (or possibly a hall - its classification is unclear) is through a decorated whitewashed archway which is Grade 2 listed and which is the former entrance gateway to public house (which makes it rather ironic that the tee-totaller Salvation Army now inhabits the site).

Lemon Wesleyan Chapel is midway along the western side of William Street (originally John Street). The first Lemon Chapel was built as a daughter of St Mary's Wesleyan Chapel in 1830. This was replaced in 1887 by new premises, constructed adjacent to the original chapel. It was known as Lemon Methodist Church from 1932, but closed in 1963 and is now a gym. This building may also have been called Fairmantle Chapel, thanks to the nearby street of that name.

St John The Evangelist is on the eastern side of Lemon Street, at its southern end, about forty metres north of Strangways Terrace. The building is Grade II listed, built in 1828 as a simple rectangular block, with a whitewashed interior and balconies on the north and south sides. A new church was needed because St Keyne and St Mary were full. Alterations were made in 1860, with the curved apse being built in the Italian style. Extensive alterations were made in 1884.

Kingdom Hall of Jehovah's Witnesses is rather out of the way as far as Truro's many assorted churches and chapels go. It lies on the eastern side of Dobbs Lane, about seventy metres north of Sunningdale in the city's Highertown district, on the other side of the Great Western main line railway which connects to London and Bristol. The actual chapel building is elegantly whitewashed, turning what would otherwise be a plain building into something recognisable.

St Piran's (Old) Roman Catholic Chapel is on Chapel Hill, on the corner with Dereham Terrace, not far from the Baptist Church (see below). This building served the Roman Catholic community from June 1885, allowing it to grow substantially, so much so that it was need of a larger building. On 17 May 1973 the new building was opened as Our Lady of the Portal and St Piran Catholic Church. The subsequent ownership of the chapel is unknown.

Truro Baptist Church is on Chapel Hill, next to Bosvigo School and almost opposite Redannick Lane. It houses a modern church which is very active in Truro. A preschool (The Pottery) was started in 1988 and runs here daily. It is called The Pottery because the church is built on the site of Lake's Pottery, founded in 1872, on a site which is said to have been producing pots since medieval times. This closed a decade after a devastating fire in 1975.

All photos on this page by Jo Lewis.