Methodist Church And Forecourt Wall, Railings And Gateway

This is a nonconformist chapel, constructed in 1883. It is located on Fore Street in Porthleven. The building is constructed of slatestone rubble with granite dressings, including a plinth, strings, kneelers, and copings. The roof is primarily asbestos slate, with some fishscale slate mimicking the appearance of the original dry Delabole slate roof. The chapel follows a rectangular plan with no aisles, and incorporates a gallery on all four sides. A pair of entrances and staircases are located at the ritual west end, and there is a projection for the organ loft at the ritual east end.

The architectural style is Gothic Revival. The single-storey elevations are tall, and the side windows are shared with the galleries. The northwest entrance front features three bays, with a wider central bay flanked by weathered buttresses topped with open bellcotes and pinnacles. The central bay has a gable ventilator above a large five-light traceried window featuring pointed lights and a central rose, with coloured leaded glass, and a sill string. A pair of gabled doorways, with stepped trefoil-headed overlights and original panelled doors, flank the central buttress. The side walls feature four bays between pinnacled buttresses, each containing a pair of transomed lancets with round tracery. The ends also have buttresses.

The interior consists of a large auditorium with an oval space beneath the gallery, which has a panelled front carried on slender iron columns. The ceiling is a trefoil-on-section barrel vault with a heavy moulded cornice and visible steel tie rods. Original pitch pine pews remain, except for a small number removed from the front. Tiered pews are located in the gallery, along with a balustraded rostrum and communion rail. The organ is housed within a round-arched apse with round-arched panels.

The forecourt is enclosed by a low slatestone wall with a granite coping, surmounted by ornate cast-iron railings positioned between gabled granite piers. This includes central gate piers with arched panels, an overthrow, and a pair of cast-iron gates. The chapel cost approximately £3,500 to build, including the site and the chapel-keeper's house.