Cornerstone & URC Methodist Church

Cornerstone Church is a magnificent Grade II Listed church, which has a fascinating history. It was built in 1795 on land granted to 12 Methodist trades people and dockyard workers by the Pole-Carew family. This deed you can see to this day – with its copperplate writing parchment, seals and signatures – as it is displayed in a frame in the building, visible to all, next to a typed and printed version of the document. In 1908 a large extension was added to the building to house a Sunday School, and the building was regularly used.

But it wasn’t always this way. In the 1990s the building became derelict. However, two local congregations joined together to save it.  

Torpoint Methodist Church and Torpoint United Reformed Church began worshipping together in September 1987 in the United Reformed Church building in Rowe Street. 

For some time, they had wished to develop the old Methodist site in Fore Street; this being a much larger site, and also prominently positioned in the middle of the main shopping street. Several schemes, relying on outside developers, had been proposed. These plans never came to fruition, creating a dilapidated and run down building in the centre of the town of Torpoint. The Church was boarded up and put on the market for sale. 

In May 1995 the Church Council decided that something should be done. A project steering group was elected to consider the potential of the Fore street site, with a view to developing it for Church and Community use. The project group spent time examining the site, consulting with present users of church buildings, talking to other potential interested groups, as well as having informal discussions with some members of Torpoint and Caradon Council Officers. 

In January 1996, a report was presented to the Church meeting, outlining a possible two-phase development of the site, and discussing the level of personal and financial commitment required, as well as potential grant sources.  

In four years, the money had been raised, and the building work began. What followed was an award-winning re-development of the building; making it fit for use while retaining its important heritage.  

The ‘typical’ gallery of a Methodist church remains above the worship area. The beautiful stained glass window was moved to another place in the building to enable disabled access.

The finished building is a magnificent improvement on what was a run-down and derelict building, thereby improving the whole facade of Fore Street in Torpoint.  

The worship area is delightful, warm and comfortable. There is a typical chapel gallery still. The original Indenture (agreement of sale of plot of land) between 12 tradesmen and the Carew-Pole family is framed and hanging in the church. 

There is a lovely private garden accessible through the coffee lounge. It is situated in the heart of Fore Street.