The South West Film and Television Archive (SWFTA) is the regional film archive for the South West of England. Established in 1993, SWFTA's core collection comprises of the combined programme libraries of Westward Television and TSW (Television South West). The archive also cares for a significant number of donated film collections, both amateur and professional, dating back to the early 1900s.
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Gwennap Pit Wedding
Kynsa demmedhyans ena Gwennap Pit
From the collection of:
Overview
A Cornish couple Ronald Veale and Diana Blackmore join in holy matrimony at Busveal Chapel in the grounds of Gwennap Pit near Redruth. This is the first ever wedding to take place in the chapel. Built in 1836 and owned by the Methodist Church since 2001 it is part of the Cornwall and West Devon Mining Landscape World Heritage Site.
The father of Methodism John Wesley preached at the pit eighteen times between 1762 and 1789 to large crowds of mining families. Wesley’s Pulpit is still used annually for an outdoor service of commemoration. The Pit came about after a hollow appeared in the mid-eighteenth century caused by subsidence due to mining and after Wesley’s death it became circular with turf seats and is now an open-air amphitheatre. Gwennap Parish was once considered the richest copper mining district in Cornwall but Gwennap Pit closed after the copper market collapse in the 1860s when no tin deposits were found.