Churches of the British Isles

Bodinnick Mission Room (and school) sits about thirty metres north of St John's Church (above), and on the same side of the street. Heritage Gateway records it as a school in 1850, later a mission room. An 1880 map also shows it as a school, becoming a mission room by 1905. An OS map of 1907 confirms it as a mission room. This is also the location of 'Old School House' which is just visible in this photo, on the right towards the top of the hill. The building is now residential.

Church of Ireland (Traditional Rite), Bodinnick, seemingly is located further up Hall Terrace, set right back from the road before reaching Bodinnick Heights, but with road access through the heights. Multiple references exist for a 'Church of Ireland' building in Bodinnick, with Reverend Ivan Cosby as pastor. This is the continuing Anglican Church in the republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland, with an 'overseas' congregation in south-east Cornwall, possibly no longer active.

St John's Old Chapel, Bodonnick, sits in the grounds of Hall Farm, at the eastern end of Hall Terrace. The hall sits on the site of a previous Barton, and a Bocconoc estate map records chapel ruins here. Lysons recorded that the chapel was dedicated to St John the Baptist. By 1840 it had disappeared and was recorded on the Tithe Award as 'old chapel site'. However, the ruins are marked on older OS maps to the south of the farm buildings, and they stand today.

The chapel survives as a small single celled rectangular roofless building with a west bell tower standing to full height, complete with crenellations. Today it leans and is not bonded to the west wall which stands to eaves-height. The south wall is at full height and has one window with fine stone moulding. The east wall has a wide cart doorway and wooden lintel. The partial north wall has a window and the original doorway, although the moulding has been removed.

The chapel is recorded in 1374, 1375, and 1406. It belonged to the Mohun family, whose mansion lay to the north. It was also probably used for public worship before conversion as a barn and granary. A 1924 record notes that the east window had been removed and the wall had been rebuilt to accommodate a cart doorway, while a second storey loft had been inserted. A timber and corrugated iron roof collapsed in a 1976 storm. Part of the north wall collapsed soon after.

One photo on this page by Jo Lewis, three kindly contributed by Roger Nix & Debb Collins (two) via the 'History Files: Churches of the British Isles' Flickr group, one copyright © Humphrey Bolton via Geograph, reused under a cc licence, and one copyright © Rightmove.