History of St. Pauls

Unfortunately with effect from 30th April 2000 this church has had to be declared redundant due to the mounting costs of staffing and preserving it. The church has had a most remarkable history. It was built at the private expense of its first priest, the Reverend Henry Batten as a private chapel where the teaching of the Tractarian movement could be promoted. From the first it stood at the very spearhead of the Catholic Revival. As early as  Easter Tuesday 1843 the church had a robed choir of 30 choristers, at a time when surplices were causing riots in other parts of the country. Choral Eucharist was duly celebrated with the assistance of two curates and the Rural Dean. The sermon centred on the Apostolic Succession within the Reformed church, the real presence of Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament, the truth of Baptismal regeneration and the authority of the ancient fathers of the church. A very memorable day, with a golden altar frontal, two candles on the altar and elegant candelabra on the altar step - altogether an amazing sight for the Church of England at that time. The "Times" newspaper used to send reporters to Penzance to enquire about the "goings on" in St Paul's! Midnight Mass at Christmas was celebrated at a time when it could only be found elsewhere at All Saints, Margaret Street, St Saviour's, Leeds, and the Collegiate Church at Cumbrai. The Catholic tradition eventually passed to St. Mary's in the later days of Prebendary Hedgeland and under Father Charles Rogers and his successors

To make enquiries concerning any records formerly kept at St. Paul's Church please contact the Diocesan Records Officer, Mr. Paul Brough, County Archivist, County Records Office, Old County Hall, Truro, TR1 3AY.