Modern Britain

Ebenezer Chapel (Wesleyan Methodist) is on the east side of the B3269 about three hundred metres north of Sweetshouse and a short way south of Maudlin. It was built in 1876, and remained in use at least into the 1970s. It presumably closed when the congregation moved to join that of the other Sweetshouse chapel (see below). Planning permission was granted in 1987 for conversion into a private dwelling which is now known as The Old Ebenezer Chapel.

Sweetshouse New Association Methodist Chapel lies almost parallel to, and about two hundred metres west of Ebenezer Chapel (above), on the Tredinnickpits lane. It was erected in 1877 with 180 sittings, according to Kelly's 1902 Directory. Before the end of the 1800s it had become Sweetshouse Free United Chapel. After the 1933 union it became the village Methodist church. By 1972 it was the New Ebenezer Methodist Church, perhaps closing in the 1980s.

Redmoor United Methodist Free Chapel lay on the western side of the lane through Redmoor from the direction of Boslymon and Sweetshouse. It opened as Redmoor New Association Methodist Chapel soon after the land was leased in 1847, but at some point became 'Free', probably at the 1857 amalgamation of the association and the Wesleyan Reformers. It remained in use until the 1960s, long after the union of all branches of Methodism in 1933, but is now a ruin.

Lower Pennant Wesleyan Methodist Chapel is at the south-west corner of the Pennant Crossroads, due south of Redmoor. It is marked on early maps (1888) as Wesleyan and seems to have been registered in 1878. It is also noted in the 1902 Kelly's directory. It may also have been Lower Pennant Bible Christian Chapel at some point (according to Lanlivery documents), while a planning application suggests it was converted into a dwelling in the 1970s or 1980s.

Lanlivery Reading Room sits in the lower part of the churchyard of St Brevita (see links). At some point in the past it has been used as a reading room, a facility that was originally imposed upon the working classes by the upper classes, mainly the church and local landowners. During the 1800s it was a school, and was restored and altered internally in 1982-1984. Today, thanks to the help of parishioners and financial support, it is now a modern village hall.

All photos on this page by Jo Lewis. Additional information from The Rise and Decline of Village Reading Rooms, Carole King (published online by Cambridge University Press, 10 September 2009).