Tretoil Bible Christian Chapel sits at the
north-east corner of the junction between the Tretoil road - which
now crosses the A30 Bodmin Bypass just 250m away - and the east-west
lane running parallel to the bypass. St Inunger Farm lies about 700m
west (see links). Kelley's Directory lists it in 1883, proving its
existence for 1882. Perhaps also known as Lanivet Bible Christian
Chapel. it may have become Tretoil Wesleyan Methodist Church,
but it closed in 1949.
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).
