From the Royal Cornwall Gazette, Thursday 18th February 1892, page 7.
It is no exaggeration to say that the parish church of Chacewater is one of the ugliest in the three kingdoms. It was built early in the present century, at great cost and very substantially, but the architect’s main object appears to have been to crowd as many people together as he could, in the smallest possible space, and by means chiefly of enormous galleries, to secure as much as possible of the government grant towards the building of twenty shillings ahead. It is utterly unsuitable for its sacred purposes, and, of late, it has become so dangerous that it has been found necessary to transfer the services to the schoolroom; the enormous wilderness which covers the entire area by way of ceiling having begun to drop from time to time on the heads of the congregation. The timbers of the roof are, however, very massive and quite sound, and the walls throughout are good. It was felt, therefore, that a reconstruction ought to be attempted rather than rebuilding, for which it would be difficult, if not impossible, to raise the necessary funds. A more hopeless task could scarcely be conceived; but the new vicar, the Rev. R. F. Fraser-Frizell, nothing daunted, took the work in hand as soon as he came into residence, and having, after great exertions, succeeded in raising about £1,100, lost no time in inviting architects to try their hands in competition on the unpromising task. Six sets of designs were submitted to the committee, of which two were rejected because the estimates considerably exceeded the stipulated amount of the other four. The plans of Mr. Edmund Sedding, of Plymouth, were selected, and the work will be commenced forthwith. Mr. Fraser-Frizell thoroughly deserves the support and active assistance of Churchmen. He has still a hard task before him, for the reconstruction of the fabric alone will cost £1,500, and then the necessary fittings will have to be provided. Mr. Sedding has dealt with the old church with very great skill; and his designs were much admired at the recent meeting of the Diocesan Church Building Society, held at Truro. He is a son of the late Edmund Sedding, architect, of Penzance, and nephew of the late J. D. Sedding, who had attained great eminence in the profession at the time of his premature decease.
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