Churches of the British Isles

The Tower Catholic Chapel sits well back from the western side of Tower Road, about eighty metres north of the Hope Terrace junction. A mansion called 'The Tower' was built for the Molesworth family in 1835. It included a castellated tower and a private chapel as the family were devout Roman Catholics. Mass was celebrated occasionally here for the small group of Catholics in Newquay. A Catholic church was later built farther along the street on donated land (below).

The Catholic Church of the Most Holy Trinity sits on land donated by the Roman Catholic Molesworth family of 'The Tower' (see above). It occupies the south-west corner of Tower Hill and Toby Way, overlooking the golf course. It was built in 1903, and a Catholic school was opened some way away, on Mount Wise at the southern edge of the town, in 1904. A gallery was added to the church in 1907. The building has been extended and improved several times since then.

Old Seaman's Mission (Newquay Harbour) was the result of a 'Book Bag Mission' which started at the harbour on 5 October 1883. A wooden building was then built as a place for crews to go, from 1 July 1891. A library was added and a missioner employed, which allowed a Sunday service for fishermen and seamen. In 1932 the 'Pleasant Sunday Afternoon' organisation took over management of the building. It was demolished in 1994 for a new building (see below).

Newquay Harbour Mission replaced the old Seaman's Mission (see above) which itself stood where today's lifeboat station sits. In 1992 room was needed for the new station. The cost of moving the old mission was too high, so the RNLI offered to demolish it and build a new chapel as part of the 'Lifeboat Complex', using as much as possible of the old building's interior. On 25 September 1994 the harbour mission re-opened just a few metres from the old site.

The obscure Celtic Saints was listed as a church in modern Newquay. Its location was on Trevose Avenue, but no dedicated church or chapel building exists there. It is highly likely that the (probably) small church's congregation were meeting in a private house on the avenue, with services presumably taking place in the traditional Anglican faith. No further information is available on it, and it no longer appears to be a functioning operation, having come and gone in a short period.

Four photos on this page by Jo Lewis, one by P L Kessler, and one kindly contributed by Tim Jenkinson via the 'History Files: Churches of the British Isles' Flickr group.