Old Mortuary Chapel, Carew

The building has two storeys under a slate roof, is oriented east-west, and is built from limestone rubble. It is accessed by external steps. It has a vaulted undercroft.[2][3]

There is an exterior monument to John Relly, an early Calvinist Methodist leader who died in 1777.[3]

The undercroft dates from the 14th or 15th century, and may have been an ossiary. In 1625 the building was referred to as a schoolhouse, and was used for this purpose until 1872. In 1833, the school educated 50 pupils, and 70 attended Sunday School. In 1846 it became a national school with up to 116 children until the village school opened in 1872. The building may have been used as a mortuary chapel, and is known by that name. After 1872, the building, which has a large blocked-up window, was used as a committee room, store and as a residence, housing paupers as late as about 1840. The building has been locally known as "The Oratory". Its current use is as a parish meeting room and Sunday School.[2][3] S. Lewis, in 1833, describes the building:[4]

In the churchyard is an ancient building, apparently coeval with the church, which is occasionally used as a parochial school, the master being appointed by the vicar.

• R Scourfield, History of St Mary's Church, Carew (1994);
• W G Spurrell, History of Carew (1921), pp. 44–57, 81–87, 89–94, 103–130

• Official website
• Historical information and further sources on GENUKI