Gwennap Pit is a famous place of worship and John Wesley first visited here in 1762 and described it as a round green hollow and later as his Amphitheatre. He visited 18 times in all and on his last visit in 1789 he was 86 years old. In 1776 on seeing the Pit filled with people who had come to hear him, he said "I think this is the most magnificent spectacle which is to be seen on this side of Heaven"
In 1806 a group of local mine captains remodelled the pit as a permanent memorial to John Wesley. The wall they built and the 12 regular rows of seats still remain today. The 12 rings seat over 1500 people comfortably, whilst a walker going around each ring from top to bottom and up again will have covered a distance of 1 mile.
In the 1980s, the outside panels were created by Guy Sanders, a local sculptor and mosaicist. The wording reminds all who come this way who John Wesley was and what his message was.
JOHN WESLEY'S RULE. Do all the good you can, By all the means you can, In all the ways you can, In all the places you can, At all the times you can, To all the people you can, As long as ever you can.
The small Chapel was built in 1836 and the adjoining visitor centre added in 1991. There has been an annual service at the Pit every Whit Monday since 1807 - except for a couple in the 1820s - and now on Spring Bank Holiday Monday, as well as selected Sundays in July and August. With its remarkable acoustic qualities the pit is used for musical events - Choirs, Bands, Hymn singing, Gospel rock and Pop festivals. And in recent years it has been the venue for weddings. Gwennap Pit is open all day and every day throughout the year. The visitor centre and Chapel are open from the beginning of June until the end of September. Mon - Fri 10am - 4:30pm Saturdays 10am - 1pm. Parking is available outside the main gates if not too busy. Thanks to the committee members for allowing this cache to be placed here. Staff are aware of this cache placement.
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If you would like to add to the Church Micro series yourself then please look here
http://churchmicro.co.uk/
There is also a Church Micro Stats & Information page that can be found at
http://www.15ddv.me.uk/geo/cm/index.html
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Now for the cache :-
At the posted co-ords How many steps are there up to the 2 Granite pillars? - A.
At the pillars, How many holes are drilled in the Vertical sides? (Not Top) - B.
At the White Sculptures - just before you go up the steps to the Pit - What Year was the engraving by E Trevena done? - 18CD.
Also from here, Wesley wrote to a cleric friend on 20th March EFGH.
Cache can be found at - N50* 13.H(A-D)(C+E) W005*12.(C-G)B(A-F)