Modern Britain

All Saints Church, Pentewan, is on the eastern side of The Terrace, towards its southern end. It was completed in 1821, built by Sir Christopher Hawkins as part of his long campaign to improve the village. The south wall is possibly Norman, while some Tudor and Jacobean windows from the ruins of Polrudden Manor were also utilised. The church was initially a failure - it closed soon after opening to be used as a net loft. In 1878 it was repaired and returned to its original use.

Pentewan Hill Wesleyan Methodist Chapel is on the eastern side of the hill, immediately north of The Terrace junction. The first nonconformist meetings in Pentewan took place in a now-non-locatable preaching house (possibly the original building on this very site) which was a pilchard cellar by 1810. Then the Methodists gained the Glentowan Road chapel (see links) before building this one in 1880. A post-war closure means that today it forms a set of apartments.

Follow the coast from Pentewan to the southern end of Trenarran (Ledra). Trenarren Wesleyan Methodist Chapel lies on the eastern side of the main lane, down this short private road. The area is also known as Ledra. Planning documents suggest that the chapel originated in 1815. It was still open in the 1950s, when a local resident remembered going to Sunday School there, but had closed and was converted to private use by the early 1970s.

Porthpean is directly north along the coast from Trenarran (see above), which is where Porthpean Wesleyan Methodist Chapel formerly existed. It was sited on the eastern side of Porthpean Beach Road, immediately to the north of St Levan's Church (marginally visible here on the right - see below), and in what is now the forecourt of Rosemary Cottage (pictured in part), which occupies a slightly larger plot. The chapel had fallen out of use by the very early 1900s.

St Levan's Church, Higher Porthpean, stands at the north-east corner of Porthpean Beach Road as it turns east towards the beach. The site - and the whole village - once formed part of the Sawle estate. The church was built by the Sawle family at its own expense as a private chapel. The foundation stone was laid in 1884, while the building used local stone and slate and was consecrated on 22 October 1885. Today it serves as an Anglican mission church.

All photos on this page by Jo Lewis.