Churches of the British Isles

Polruan Congregational Chapel is shown on OS maps at 1 Battery Lane in Polruan. The chapel also had a Sunday school, perhaps located on the corner. By 1843 both buildings were being used by the Wesleyans. Polruan (First) Wesleyan Methodist Chapel is noted on the 1867 register. The chapel was then used as the Wesleyan Sunday school when the meeting moved to the 1880 West Street chapel (below). This property is now the private Chapel House.

Polruan (Second) Wesleyan Methodist Chapel is on the southern side of the narrow West Street which is best accessed by foot. This Grade 2 listed chapel was built in 1880 to a design by James Hicks to replace the former building (above). This chapel sat 330 and was opened in 1881. It became West Street Methodist Church in 1932 and, in 1958, the congregation was joined by the Fore Street group (see below). It closed in 1995 and is now a private residence.

Polruan United Methodist Chapel stands on the east side of Fore Street, close to the turning into Chapel Lane which had a Sunday school, possibly an earlier chapel of 1802 (now Sunday Cottage). The chapel was built in 1879 to seat over three hundred. It became Fore Street United Methodist Church in 1907 and then Fore Street Methodist Church in 1932. It closed in 1958 (see above) and has been converted to a private residence named Florizel Mews.

St Saviour's (New) Church was built between 1889 and 1891, the latter year being the one in which it had its opening ceremony. It was built to replace the eighth century St Saviour's Chapel (see 'related links'). St Saviour was built as a mission church to St Lantys of Lanteglos-by-Fowey (see links). The building contains seven stained glass windows which, on first impression, appear to date to the building's consecration but which in fact replaced the plain glass originals.

By 2022 the church of St Saviour seemed to have fallen into the redundant category, with discussions being held about its future. However, occasional services were still being centred in and from the building. There was also a strong local desire for the building to survive and be converted. By September 2024 planning in principle had been agreed to convert it to a maximum of four private apartments. By early 2026 it was not clear if this had been enacted.

One photo on this page kindly contributed by Yaxbalam via the 'History Files: Churches of the British Isles' Flickr group, and one photo each copyright © Cornish Churches, Isles of Scilly Travel, Tony Mansell / Mapping Methodism, VebraAlto.com, & Zoopla.