Newlyn Preaching Pit And Storehouse

The Newlyn Preaching Pit and storehouse is a Wesleyan preaching pit dating from the late 18th century or early 19th century. It is constructed from earth and moorstone and features an open-air theatre with seven tiers of seats arranged in a circular excavation, capable of accommodating 2,000 people. On the east side, there is a semicircular pulpit platform that rises from the third tier of seating. The upper tiers are supported by a Cornish hedge, which compensates for the slope of the ground.

Access to the site is directly from the road, through late 19th-century iron gates with an overthrow, flanked by curved stone walls. Inside, on the left, there is a storeroom with a furnace, built from rubble stone and topped with a slurried slate roof. The entrance is located in the west gable end, with a window on the south side. The interior contains remnants of a hearth and a boiler, with a stack on the east gable. Preaching pits were favored by John Wesley for their straightforward design and egalitarian nature, particularly following his successful mission to Gwennap mine in 1762. Currently, only three such pits remain.