The first record of a Methodist service in Carnon Downs comes from 1824 when Edward Budd, the editor of the West Briton newspaper and a local Methodist Preacher, came to the village and held an open air service, probably somewhere near the present day Chapel as that was the focal point of the local road and track network. Mr. Budd was supported on that occasion by Edward Olive, a local shoemaker, known to all as Captain Olive.
Carnon Downs Chapel
Money to build the Chapel it was hoped could be raised by donation and subscription. Subscribers paid £1 for a seat, a custom which carries on to this day in many Churches and Chapels as a means of fund raising. Subscribers were also expected to keep their seat in good repair during the time they held it. The total cost of the new Chapel was £186.00, of which less than half was actually raised from donations and subscriptions, the balance being taken out as a loan A further small piece of land was acquired a few years later to build the stable at the rear of the building. The terms here including the fact that the new building should never be used as a Public House or Kiddleywink.
The Methodist Chapel continues to this day to be a focal point in the middle of the village and today, plans are at an advanced stage to refurbish and modernise parts of the old buildings and expand their community use and appeal.
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