Churches of the British Isles

East Looe United Methodist Church apparently met in the stone building shown here (upper centre), at the corner of Tower Hill, either from 1841 (Heritage Gateway) or 1860 (Genuki). Research suggests the building was initially Quaker (see above), then Bible Christian which at the 1907 merger would have become a United Methodist Church. The church was sold in 1918-1919 and converted to the Masonic Hall, and now has Masonic symbols over the double front door.

St Mary's Church is on Chapel Street. This small Anglican church was dedicated in 1259 by the bishop of Exeter. The small tower dates from the fifteenth century, but the rest was largely rebuilt in 1806 and then replaced in 1882. It became redundant in the 1980s and was closed. In the 1990s the building was purchased by the West Country Housing Association and was converted into sheltered accommodation. Even today though the building remains Grade 2 listed.

The Church of St Martin of Tours by Looe sits a short way to the north of East Looe, with its cemetery between it and the junction of Barbican Road and St Martin's Road. Until 1845 it was the parish church for East Looe, and may originally have been part of a religious establishment which was founded in fifth or sixth century post-Roman Britain. By 1086 it was probably part of the manor of Pendrim. Its earliest documentary reference is as Martistow around 1220.

The main fabric of the building which today forms the church of St Martin dates largely from the thirteenth, fourteenth, and fifteenth centuries. The building underwent a level of restoration work in 1882 but by 1907 the work had to be repeated, which is when the eastern portion of the church floor was lowered, the walls were underpinned, and the pillars were straightened. A heating system was also installed and the lancet window was opened up.

Sandplace Wesleyan Methodist Chapel is on the east side of Sandplace Road, flanked by three whitewashed cottages (formerly the Post Office). Now Chapel Cottage, it is described as a beautifully-renovated former Sunday school, but is likely to have started as the 1864 Wesleyan chapel, registered as a place of worship in 1867. Kellys 1902 notes it, but by 1897 it was was the property of Mrs H H Tremayne who loaned it for the purpose of holding religious services.

Four photos copyright © Dave Kelly, Jaggery, Derek Harper, and N Chadwick, all via Geograph, reused under a cc licence.