Churches of the British Isles

Carbis Mission Room sat on the southern side of the Carbis-Roche road, about sixty metres west of the Carbis crossroads at which sits the brick works. The mission is marked on OS maps of the late 1800s, while the 1906 map shows it as a mission hall. It still served as such in 1938 but the compilation OS 1:25,000 map of 1937-1961 shows the site to have been completely cleared. It is not to be confused with the chapel-like Rock Cottage a little further towards Roche.

St Michael's Chapel on the Rock, a well-known landmark, is situated between Trezaise road and Roche Road at the southern end of Roche, and can be accessed from either. The chapel was dedicated in 1409, having been built on a precipitous outcrop, incorporating the bedrock in its structure. It stands two storeys high with a lower room in which lived a hermit, attended by his daughter. The room above served as the chapel. The Dissolution probably ended its use.

St Gomonda of the Rock, Roche, lies at the north-west corner of Higher Trerank Lane and Trezaise Road, opposite the recreation ground. It was dedicated to St Goemandus, otherwise rendered as Conandus, Conant, or Gonnet. A Saxon building here was likely replaced by the Norman construction of the lords of Tremodrett. This was largely rebuilt in the 1300s before being restored in 1820-1822 (and gutted to provide a preaching space), and again in 1890.

Roche Cemetery Chapel lies at the back of the cemetery, on the western side of the Trezaise Road and about 250 metres south of St Gomonda. It is marked simply as a mortuary on the OS six-inch map of England and Wales of 1905-1906 and just about every edition issued since those dates, but such mortuary rooms that were located away from a church building could often serve as a secondary chapel in times of need. This one is rather simple in terms of construction.

Trezaise Bible Christian Chapel is on the east side of Trezaise Road, with a Sunday School behind it that exits onto the southern side of Prosper Road. The village name has a variety of spellings, including 'Tresayes'. The chapel was built in 1853 on the site of an earlier chapel. It and the Sunday School were renovated in 1890, and by 1918 the chapel had become Trezaise Methodist Church, continuing in use until about 2000. Today it is in private hands.

Four photos on this page by Jo Lewis, and one kindly contributed by Christian Hacker via the 'History Files: Churches of the British Isles' Flickr group.