Trewint

The busy A30 carries visitors from Launceston to Bodmin and beyond and cuts through Trewint but if you don’t know where to look, you will miss the hamlet altogether. And that would be a pity for in the village there is one of the most hallowed Methodist sites in Cornwall. Wesley Cottage is the former home of Digory and Elizabeth Isbell who entertained John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, on some of his visits to Cornwall in the mid 18th century. But there is much more to the story than that. One day in 1743 two of Wesley’s men, John Nelson and John Downs, came to Trewint and called at the house of a stonemason called Digory Isbell. Digory was at work at the time, so his wife Elizabeth gave the two men refreshment. They then insisted on paying, and fell on their knees to pray without using a prayer book. Digory was told this story on his return, and was so impressed that a year later Wesley himself was entertained in the house. Shortly after this, Digory was inspired by a passage in the Bible to build an extension to his house for the use of Wesley and his preachers. The rooms, thought to be the smallest Methodist preaching places in the world, have been maintained in the 18th century style and visitors can see the specially constructed ‘Prophets’ Chamber’ and ‘Pilgrims’ Garden’. Digory and Elizabeth Isbell are both buried in the churchyard at nearby Altarnun. Local legend has it that if you run round the iron railings surrounding their tombstone twelve times, then put your fingers in your ears, you will hear the bells of heaven.