Rescorla Centre

The Rescorla Centre seeks to promote the study and celebration of Cornish culture. Based in the village’s historic Methodist chapel in mid-Cornwall we are working with a range of organisations like the Cornish Audio Visual Archive, Pyba and University College St Mark & St John to develop a series of cultural and educational projects relating to Cornish history, literature and the performing arts. This includes an annual programme of workshops, concerts, short courses and weekend retreats. If you are interested in Cornish culture — come to Rescorla!

The centrepiece of our activities is the annual Rescorla Festival. With financial support from the Heritage Lottery Fund the Centre’s inaugural event in June 2008 explored the cultural traditions of the Clay Country. This included the performance of Snail Creep — a Cornish processional dance — for the first time in sixty years. We would like to hear from musicians, storytellers, dancers, artists, schools and other organisations throughout Cornwall who would like to take part in future festivals.

A sense of community is at the heart of Rescorla. In recent years village life in Cornwall has been undermined by the lack of public amenities as a result of the closure of so many of its rural chapels. In the case of Rescorla we will make the old chapel available for community events, establish computer facilities for residents and encourage local involvement in festival and educational activities.