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Churches of the British Isles

Gallery: Churches of Cornwall

by Jo Lewis, 15 May 2020

Restormel (South) Part 24: Churches of Par & Tywardreath

Seaman's Mission, Par, Cornwall

The Seaman's Mission on the north side of Harbour Road lay about sixty metres north of the Mountlea Drive junction. The garages on the left here would have lain on the immediate eastern flank of the building, with its main body further off to the left. The mission existed by 1907 as the Seaman's Institute, with a mission room inside that could seat eighty persons. It is still seen on maps to the 1960s, after which it may have fallen out of use. The building survived into the 1980s.

Par Mortuary Building, Par Green Road, Par, Cornwall

Par Mortuary Building lay to the left of this footpath, just beyond an alignment with olive green hut, on the northern side of Par Green Road and about sixty metres east of Harbour Road. The building is shown on old maps of 1933 to 1988, although there appears to be no attached burial ground. Cornish Archives hold a plan of the mortuary dated 1913, and a letter regarding a lease to the council of land for the mortuary (September 1913). Today it is entirely gone.

St Mary's Wesleyan Methodist Chapel, Chapel Road, Par, Cornwall

St Mary's Wesleyan Methodist Chapel sits at the north-eastern outside corner of Chapel Road as it bends from north to west, immediately west of the Great Western mainline railway bridge. It was built in 1864 and remains active on the Methodist circuit. It has been modernised inside, with the Victorian pews having been removed and carpet and chairs installed. A gallery extends all the way around the main chapel which still does have its original pews.

Catholic Church of Christ the King, Par, Cornwall

The Catholic Church of Christ the King once sat on the immediate southern flank of Par Health Centre (shown here), on the western side of Eastcliffe Road around forty-five metres north of the Tehidy Road junction. A church first appears on this spot on the late inter-war OS map of 1937-1961, precisely where No 47 Eastcliffe Road now stands behind the health centre, and with grounds that extended across what is now No 45. By the 1970s it is labelled, and it survives past 1988.

Tywardreath Bible Christian Chapel, Tywardreath, Cornwall

Tywardreath Bible Christian Chapel sits on the eastern side of Glen View, just ten metres north of the Elderfield Close junction in the northern part of this village on the upper edge of Par. It was built in 1858 to seat three hundred people. It became Tywardreath Methodist Church following the union of 1932 and then the WI Hall (1970). It was later converted into cottages, possibly in 1986, with a later conversion into flats with a building name of Chapel House.

Chambernown Chapel / Chapel Down Wesleyan Methodist Chapel, Tywardreath, Cornwall

About 350 metres north of Tywardreath's Castledore Road is Chapeldown, with Chapel Park Farm (shown here) on its north-eastern flank. This was possibly the site of Chambernown Chapel and manor house. In 1330 Matilda Chambernown was granted permission to celebrate divine service in her own chapel for one year. The name 'Chappell Downe' existed by 1586. Chapel Down Wesleyan Methodist Chapel was built here before being replaced by Tywardreath by 1835.

All photos on this page by Jo Lewis.

 

 

     
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