[Appendix D(11) 1792 Report of Commissioners of Inquiry]

N° 11.

The EXAMINATION of the Rev. Mr. CORLETT, taken at Douglas, in the Isle of Man, the 22d of October 1791.

THIS Examinant saith, That he has been Vicar of the parish of Kirk German for thirty years, and was perfectly acquainted with the state of repairs of St. John’s Chapel in 1765 and at that time it was in good repair, and fit for the performance of divine service : and this Examinant hath occasionally officiated there till the month of April 1780, at which time the key was taken from the place where it was before deposited, as he apprehends, by order of the Lieutenant Governor, and the petition of the inhabitants to have the key returned, in which the inhabitants undertook to keep the chapel in its then state of repair at their own expence, was refused ; and from that time the chapel has been disused as a place of worship, the inside has been entirely taken away, the roof is in most places off, and the building in a ruinous state, without door or windows; that the ruinous state of this chapel is a matter of serious inconvenience to his parishioners, several of whom are obliged to go five miles to their parish church which is too small to contain all the parishioners.

By the last account, taken about four or five years ago, there were above two thousand four hundred parishioners, old and young.

Every part of the cathedral at Peel, except the choir, was in 1765 in a dilapidated state, and unfit for the celebration of divine service ; at that time the chancel was roofed in,the windows and seats entire, a stone altar entire and railed in, with a door and lock and key to the chancel ; and till the installation of Bishop Richmond, about the year 1772, all the Bishops were installed there: till the year 1772 this Examinant has performed the burial service there, but no other ; and since 1772, this chancel has gone completely to ruin, is in most places unroofed, and the door and windows, and every thing within, has been taken away.

In 1765 the Porter’s Lodge, within the castle walls of Peel, was roofed in, and, as this Examinant believes, inhabited. A building, called the Armory, within the castle walls, was also at that time roofed in ; and the magazine over the passage leading to the sally port, was likewise roofed in.

Since 1765 all these buildings have been unroofed, and gone completely to decay. The walls of the castle are now in much the same state as they were in 1765, except a breach near the gateway.

HENRY CORLETT

Jn^o Spranger.
W^m Osgoode.
Will^m Roe.
David Reid.