Gwennap Pit
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A depression caused by mining subsidence was
subsequently used as an open air preaching pit. It dates from the
mid-eighteenth century. It is located in what was the greatest
copper mining district of the eighteenth and early nineteenth
centuries, and one of the most densely populated areas at the
time.
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Located just to the south of Redruth
on the eastern slopes of Carn Marth, its fame is due largely to
the preachings of John Wesley, who used the pit on 18 occasions
from 1776-89. He greatly exaggerated its size (he put it at
200x300ft and 50ft deep) and it is possible that the same applies
to his estimate that his largest audience was 32,000. In his
memory the local people excavated the pit in 1806 into a regular
oval 37m across and 8m deep. They added 13 rows of turf seats. A
Whit-Monday service has been held there since 1807, and it has
been used for other purposes, eg. Chartists met in 1839, and there
was a theatre performance in 1951. |
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