Foundation stone of "tin hall" restored by local couple

Monday 27 June 2022

A local couple has restored a foundation stone which has stood at their property for more than 100 years.

Nigel and Cate Chescoe have painted the stone and put it on display at the front of their property, which was formerly the King’s Barn Mission Hall, affectionately known as the “tin chapel”.

Originally from Gloucestershire, Mr and Mrs Chescoe said it was important to them to preserve the local heritage of the plot. 

Pictured: Sunday marked the 114th anniversary of the laying of the foundation stone by Frank Carey. 

“Having bought the tin chapel to build our family home on the site we decided that we would try our best to keep the past alive; Kings Barn is a very important site for many Guernsey families who have either visited or worshipped here for many years since 1908,” said Mr Chescoe.

“There are a lot of examples locally where a site has been demolished and redeveloped, often with nothing to mark what was there in the past.” 

The mission hall was built following the growth of the King’s Mills Methodist congregation. Open-air meetings were held each Sunday evening and, when the weather was bad, the congregation would gather in “Wysteria” house. 

The group soon outgrew Wysteria and the mission hall was built. The foundation stone was laid by Frank Carey on 26 June 1908. 

The couple said that it was “quite by chance” that they were able to celebrate the 114^th anniversary of the stone being laid. 

“Frank Carey was the son of a wealthy Guernsey merchant. It is not clear whether he donated funds for the hall to be built, or whether he helped to build it, but he must have been an integral part to have laid the foundation stone,” said Mrs Chescoe. 

Pictured: Cate Chescoe said the property had "a nice, pleasant atmosphere". 

Mr Chescoe added: “Frank Carey’s foundation stone was salvaged from the rubble of the original building at the time of demolition with the sole intention that one day we might be able to relay that stone for prosperity.

“We hope that Frank would have approved of it and of course saving the stone he lay was a key part of the transformation.”

What is known about Frank Carey is that he was born in Alicante, Spain in 1845 and later returned to Guernsey where the family settled into a home still known as Summerlands in Le Mont Durand. He was married to Louisa and they had one son, John. 

Mr Chescoe described the former hall as a “tin tabernacle” and said it had been built from corrugated iron and painted duck egg blue with a red corregated roof. 

“When we designed the exterior of King’s Barn, we wanted to emulate the vertical lines in the corrugated tin sheeting but with much more durable and sustainable material throughout the build,” he said. 

Pictured: Nigel and Cate Chescoe said it was important to respect the local heritage of the plot. 

“We have used accoya, a type of wood that takes the building to another level externally. Combining this with a feature window to emulate the original window in the front gable that everyone remembers, we believe we have built a fabulous new home.”

In 1990, George Torode wrote that the last known original member of the congregation, Gran Collinete, passed away. The running of the hall was then overseen by Percy Bourgaize from 1960 until around 2018 when it was no longer required.

Mr and Mrs Chescoe said that they hoped islanders would see the stone and recall memories of the mission hall. 

“When it came to move the stone, I called on a friend of mine, Peter Bougourd, to help move it with his tractor,” said Mr Chescoe.

“Pete told me that he remembered attending Sunday school at the mission hall and he was glad to be a part of relaying the stone. 

“There are generations of families in the island who will remember the hall and have memories of services held there and we hope they will enjoy seeing the stone when they come past.”

Pictured: Mr and Mrs Chescoe tried to emulate the vertical lines of the corrugated tin sheeting on the mission hall. 

Mrs Chescoe said that passers-by had been complimentary about the conversion. 

“It is lovely to know that people seem pleased with the work we have done,” she said. 

“King’s Barn has a nice, pleasant atmosphere. Perhaps it’s because it’s our own design or perhaps due to a spiritual element of the plot. Hopefully only good things happened here in the past and that there will l be all good things to come.”