Churches of the British Isles

St Martin's Old Chapel, Respryn, is not to be confused with one of the same name at Bosmaugen (see links). This chapel sat to the west of Bofarnel, on the north side of the road between what is now the railway bridge and Respryn bridge (here, to the left of the bridge). The chapel existed in the 1100s, was rebuilt in 1389, and was a chapelry of St Winnow before 1400 (see links). It was abolished at the Reformation, and nothing of it survives on site.

The lost Respryn Mission Chapel was established at Respryn (on the edge of Waterlake), with entries in the parish baptismal register and with an annotation from the early 1900s. It had a license from 1922 to celebrate divine service. Registers of use date from 1929. The chapel closed in 1959 but was reopened in 1963 by the vicar of St Winnow (see links). Today it is no longer in church use, having been reported as passing into private hands as a store/garage.

Braddock Wesleyan Methodist Chapel is on the A390's north side, immediately east of the West Taphouse buildings, facing a southbound road to Babbington Farm. Founded as Boconnoc Wesleyan Chapel, Kellys of 1902 notes it was built in 1828. Relevant documents exist from the 1870s. The chapel was re-erected in 1883 under its later format, and then was Braddock Methodist Church from 1932. Closure and a sale around 1967-1970 saw it become 'The Old Chapel'.

Braddock Church of St Mary the Virgin lies to the south-east of Babbington Farm (mentioned above). The ecclesiastical parishes of Braddock and Boconnoc were united in 1742. This church was dedicated to St Mary the Virgin before 1331. Originally a chapelry to St Winnow (see links), the church stands on its hilltop in its sixth century churchyard. The present building was erected in the thirteenth century, but it stands on the site of a older building.

Of that earlier building only the tower and the Norman arch which leads into the tower still survive. The font is Norman and there exist many good examples of woodcarving in the church. The four bells in 1845 had not been rung for many years, so they were taken down and were sent by sea to the Whitechapel Bell Foundry in London to be recast into five new bells, which rang out their first peal on Easter Sunday 1846. The church today is a is Grade 1 listed building.

Two photos on this page by Jo Lewis, two kindly contributed by Roy Reed via the 'History Files: Churches of the British Isles' Flickr group, and two copyright © Rod Allday and Christopher Hilton via Geograph, reused under a cc licence.