John Wesley’s long association with Cornwall was shaped by the landscape he crossed and the people he encountered. Standing only five feet three inches tall, he travelled immense distances on horseback, often in harsh weather, and repeatedly crossed Bodmin Moor on his way into the county. Before the modern A30, the route from Launceston to Bodmin passed directly through Trewint and Altarnun, rising steadily onto the exposed moor. Wesley’s journals describe rain, hail and deep mud, and occasions when he was forced to dismount and walk because the paths were “ploughed up or plashy with rain”.
His first recorded visit to Trewint came on Monday 2 April 1744. The Dartmoor hills were covered with snow, though it was turning to rain as he approached the Cornish border. “About two we came to Trewint, wet and weary enough,” he wrote, “having been battered by the rain and hail for some hours.” He preached that evening to a crowd far larger than the cottage could contain. The next morning Digory Isbell guided him across the moor, the paths being buried under snow “driven together too deep for horse or man to pass”.
Wesley returned a fortnight later, on Monday 16 April, on his way out of Cornwall. He might have stayed again at Trewint, but John Bennet, the incumbent of Laneast, met him at the cottage and took him to Laneast for the night. At five the next morning they returned to Trewint for preaching. According to local tradition, George Thomson, Vicar of St Gennys, and George Whitefield were also present that day, the four clergymen attending the baptism of Digory Isbell’s third child, Hannah. On this visit Wesley was told of rumours circulating locally that he was an imposter and that the “real Wesley” was dead — a Cornish variation on the wider rumour that he was an agent of the Pretender.
His fourth visit came on Monday 15 July 1745. By then the movement had taken firm root in Cornwall, and Wesley summed up its progress in striking terms: “Indeed I never remember so great an awakening in Cornwall, wrought in so short a time, among young and old, rich and poor, from Trewint quite to the sea side.” He preached again at the cottage before continuing to Laneast Church. His Sermon Register records another visit in July 1747, and his final recorded visit to Trewint took place on Sunday 26 September 1762, when he preached at noon, was entertained by John Nicolls at Tererithick, and rode on to Launceston.
These visits formed part of a wider pattern of Methodist activity in Cornwall. Long before chapels were built, societies met in the homes of their members. St Paul’s greeting to “the Church in thy house” became a reality once more among the early Methodists. Members were expected to attend their parish church on Sundays, but during the week the society meetings were held in cottages such as that of the Isbells. Charles Wesley captured the spirit of these gatherings in a hymn blessing the man who opened his home for worship — words that may well have been sung in Trewint while Digory bowed his head in humility.
Wesley’s repeated journeys across Cornwall — through mining districts, fishing ports and remote upland communities — helped establish one of the strongest Methodist regions in Britain. Gwennap Pit, the engine houses of Redruth and Camborne, the chapels of the north coast and the preserved Prophet’s Chamber at Trewint all reflect the movement’s deep roots. Wesley’s visits to Trewint, and the hospitality he received there, played a significant part in the early spread of Methodism across the county.
