Churches of the British Isles

Torpoint Kingdom Hall of Jehovah's Witnesses is easily found on the northern side of the eastern extension of Fisgard Way, about two hundred metres due east of Horson Cemetery (see above), within the Trevol Business Park which sits on the western edge of Torpoint. This area after the Second World War was part of HMS Fisgard. The modern JW hall is functional, with a car park, and no available history. The latter is typical of many Jehovah's Witnesses buildings.

St Phillip & St James Church, Antony Maryfield (Merrifield) is Grade 2 listed. It lies north of the A374, on the western side of Wilcove Lane in the former village of Merrifield. It was built between 1863-1865 to the designs of William White as a place of worship for the Pole-Carew family of Antony House (now the Carew Pole family). The random sandstone rubble building was licensed on 4 December 1866. The tall spire was added in 1870-1871, again to William White's designs.

Antony Old Chapel of the Blessed Virgin Mary is little-known and now impossible to precisely locate. A 'chapel of Antone' is mentioned in records of 1375. The building was dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary. The site of the chapel has been suggested as having been close to the Antony House which is shown here, although other suggestions have connected the lost medieval chapel with the former settlement of Merrifield, as recorded in 1412.

Wilcove Wesleyan Methodist Chapel can be found between Upper Wilcove (at the east end of Wilcove Lane) and Coombe Park on the north side of the A374. The Cornwall village book alludes to a Methodist Ebenezer chapel being built in 1806. A Wesleyan chapel is registered at Wilcove in the 1867 register. The chapel is lost from records after the 1930s. The site of its former location is the garden for a house on its northern flank, with the stone wall possibly a remnant.

St Peter's Old Chapel most likely was located at Looking Glass Point, to the west of Upper Wilcove, on a promontory above the water treatment plant which was also known as Pato's Point or Pater's Point. The earliest records are licences of 1408 and 1447 for the celebration of festivals for saints Peter, Paul, and James. Research implies it was seldom used for worship. It could have been a Celtic hermitage, a lighthouse chapel, or a votive chapel. Nothing remains.

Four photos on this page copyright © J Thomas, Derek Harper, Philip Halling, and N Chadwick, all via Geograph, reused under a cc licence.