Description

ST NEWLYN EAST CARGOLL ROAD
SW 85 NW
(South side)
1/33 Newlyn Preaching Pit and
storehouse.

--- II

Weslyan preaching pit. Late C18 or early C19. Earth and moorstone. An
open-air theatre of 7 grades of seats formed in an excavation around a
circular orchestra, capable of holding 2000 persons. On east side a
pulpit platform of semicircular form springs from the 3rd grade. Upper
grades are supported on a Cornish hedge compensating for the fall in
ground. Entrance directly off road, through late C19 iron gates with
overthrow between incurved stone flanking walls. Within, on left, a
storeroom with furnace, rubble stone with slurried slate roof. Entrance
in west gable end, and window on south. Interior has remains of hearth
and boiler with stack on east gable. Preaching pits found favour with John
Wesley for their direct simplicity and egalitarianism after his successful
mission to Gwennap mine in 1762. Only three such pits now survive.

Listing NGR: SW8242156338

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26434224

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

• 
  Sussex: East with Brighton and Hove (Buildings of England) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Old House Eco Handbook: A Practical Guide to Retrofitting for Energy-Efficiency & Sustainability
• 
  Kent: West and the Weald: The Buildings of England (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Historic Environment Law: Planning, Listed Buildings, Monuments, Conservation Areas and Objects by Harwood, Richard (2012) Paperback
• 
  Old House Care and Repair
• 
  Berkshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)