The morning news., 1899-12-03
PREACHING-PITs OF CORNWALL.
The Old Mine Shafts Where Wesley
and WhftefeId Held Revival.

From Chambers Journal
Scattered throughout the length and
breadth of, Cornwall are innumerab,e dis
used mine-shafts, as m ght be expected in
a country whose mining industry has ex-
listed for considerably over % centuries.
When the lodes of lin and copper gave GU,
or became tCo Eoor TO pay for the working,
the min were abandoned, leaving either
immune able yawning chasms or shafts
hundt eds of fathoms deep to scar the face
of the country In time The woodwork
VIII ch ha1 been placed as lining to he
shafts to support the side rotted away and
as a result, the sides csved in and fell into
the shaft and so formed pit. In many
cases the "Iun-in, as this caving in is
termed, formed perfectly circular PIT in
the shape of an inverted truncated cone,
sometimes measuring over a hundred feet
in diameier at the sur ace, and from 30 to
40 feet in its greatest depth. When he
ground was mo ''IubbTy' the pit would
be wider ard deeper. When the great e
g.ous revival nder the y. eaching of W es-
ley and Whitfield took place, Cornwall
was one Of the counties in which the move
ment took deep root. Chape sprang up
very quickly; but until h Sc we bll t
the reviyalists looked about o Races in
which they might worship without moles-
tation. Some MUS saw great posstb Ii les
in these "run-in" mine shafts, ard so the
"preaching- became an accompl shed
fact The bottoms of the pits were .eVel-
ed, and on the sfoping side rude ats were
formed hy cuttir The earth into .iers OF
steps and covert g thom with turf A high
bank was raised al one side for the preach
er, and an openir & was cut so as to give
easy access 10 the pit. In some cases a
railing was erect d round the ler edge,
having an entrance gate.
In these rude, improvised amphitheaters
eminently suited to the rough, emotional
nature of the Cornish miner, revival ser
vices were held and hundreds of converts
were drought in as the Cornishman
terms it, With nothing but the blue sky
above and the green grass below, the pit
crowded tier above tier with solemn-faced
reiigionists listening with bated breath
to the denunciation of the sinner and the
exhortation to flee from wrath eternal; the
young dark-haired, blue-eyed lads and
maidens sitting hand-in-hand, as is the
custom with Cornish lovers and their
elders nodding and shaking their heads as
they agree or disagree with the remarks of
the preacher, occasionally emitting a
eroanr or an Amen while over all, the
gathering gloom completes the solemnity
of the scene, and makes Ii a fit subject
for the brush of a Rembrandt. Then. when
the hymn, rolling from a thousand throa ts
and echoed from the pit-sides, had been
sung followed by the prayer, In which
the entire spirit of the supplicant was
poured forth with violent gesuculatous
and contortions of body to the accompaui-
ment of "Amens." groans and "Hallelu-
jahs'' of the believers, mingled with cries
and shrieks from the "unsaved," il would
seem as if the spirit of the ancient Drujds
had survived through the centuries in this
remnant of Britain's ancient people
These "preaching-pits' are all situated
in West Cornwall. That al Gwennap, near
Redruth is the largest and best known.
Il is forty-seven yard in diameter and
will accommodate 10,O00 people. In Wes-
ley's time IL was very much larger. Others
are situated at Newlyn Eastss near New
quay, and at Indian Queens, near Truro.
The pits are not now regularly used as
places Of worship; but on the bank holi-
days special services are held In them ana
they are used also on the occasion OF a
Sunday School treat. AT such times they
are well worth visiting.