- Nprn: 11500
- Summary: Llawr-y-Glyn Methodist Chapel in Trefeglwys was built in 1844, but the congregation soon outgrew the building and a new chapel was built in 1872. This later chapel is built in the Simple Round-Headed Arts and Crafts style, and has diapered brickwork; primarily yellow bricks decorated with geometric designs in red, green and blue-black brick. The slate roof has a fleur-de-lis crest and decorated eaves. The gable entrance has a central semi-circular arched window with Y-tracery, flanked by two entrances, each with a four-chamfered panel door beneath a semi-circular light. The side elevations each have three bays, with round-headed windows again with Y-tracery. The interior of the chapel is ungalleried, and the walls have been plastered and painted. The ceiling is divided into four bays by stopped and chamfered ribs. Inside the north east door is a late nineteenth or early twentieth century manual harmonium, ornamented with fretwork trellis panels.
RCAHMW, January 2011 - Description: Built in 1844, rebuilt 1872. Built in the Simple Round-Headed and Arts and Craft style, gable entry type. Present status [1997]: Chapel
The Wesleyan Methodist cause began at Trefeglwys in 1800, with the 1st chapel being built in 1808. A deacon from the Trefeglwys chapel took over a mill at Llawryglyn and the Wesleyan cause, initially short-lived, began there ca. 1808. Then, in or around 1826 Evan Rowlands asked The Reverend Hugh Hughes to preach at his house. Thereafter, meetings in and around Llawr-y-glyn were held in a series of locations. The 1st chapel, measuring 24' x 21', and containing pews, was opened in 1844 (presently in domestic use); in 1851 there were 50 free spaces, 32 other and standing space for 50 (Religious Census of 1851, Vol. 2). By the 1870s the 1844 chapel had become too small and in 1871 the Wesleyan Chapel Committee sanctioned the present chapel, which was opened in 1872, on 29 and 30 October. Electricity was fitted in 1939. Further re-wiring, connected to mains electricity, electric heating and re-decoration was carried out in time for the centenary service held in 1973. Accommodation: in 1905 (appendices to the Royal Commission on the Church of England and other Religious Bodies) there were 150 sittings.
Summary: a diapered brick gable façade chapel of the 1870s for the Wesleyan cause - a "village chapel". Pulpit backs on to the front gable and has flanking doorways. Ungalleried interior. Open bench seats arranged in wide central block and flanking side blocks and facing straight forward.
Exterior: walls faced with yellow bricks; patterned brickwork also in red and blue-black bricks. Slate roof with 2-tier fleur-de-lys cresting.
Front gable faced with yellow bricks with red and blue-black brick diapering. Fancy bargeboard punched with circlets and with wavy edge; wood finial-cum-pendant, the pendant partly broken. The flanking semi-circular dorways in arcading, linked by 2-course banding of blue-black bricks at impost height, with red brick inner doorhead, the outer doorhead of red, yellow and blue-black bricks, with a half-course depth of blue-black bricks round the outer edge of both. Painted and grained 4 chamfered-panel doors of late C19; semi-circular fanlights, of frosted glass on NE. (l.h.) and of plain glass on SW.. In the centre, a wide 3-light window with semi-circular head, rising into the gable; 4-panes depth, inclusive of lancet heads forming Y-tracery with spandrels over.
Other brickwork colours and patterns in front façade: at base of centre part of wall, 2 strips of orange brickwork, 2 courses of blue-black bricks; red brick diapering in centre of 2 lozenge depth. Red bricks beneath the wide centre window, its semi-circular head of red and yellow brick voussoirs, enclosed by a half course of blue-black bricks. To each side of the lower part of the centre window, 2 tiers of red brick lozenges with blue-black brick centre. To each side of the window head, a brick band and, above the latter, V-shaped diapering, each side of the window head; higher up in the gable, a red and yellow brick band and above this, a slate plaque enclosed by pairs of red and yellow brick voussoirs with outer half brick frame of blue-black bricks; the plaque is inscribed: "Wesleyan chapel/ erected/ 1873".
A gravel strip in front of the chapel, flanked by paths to chapel doorways, and enclosed in front and along paths by later-C20 brick walls with flat brick coping; brick piers with pyramidal concrete coping, linked by late-C20 metal chains; formerly dwarf walls and wooden paling. Slate slabs in front of stone doorsteps.
Side elevations: 3-bay side elevations, the bays punctuated by wide brick pilasters. Semi-circular headed window openings with red brick heads and projecting slate cills; 2-light windows with Y-tracery, of 3 panes depth inclusive of top lancet lights. Stepped brick eaves. SW. elevation with deep plinth; a gravel strip in front, bounded from side road by late-C20 brick wall of 4 bays, plus 2 canted bays on corner.
Rear gable: similar bargeboard, truncated at base; wood finial and pendant at gable apex.
Interior: inside each doorway, a wood-panelled screen, also enclosing the side bench seat to the Sedd Fawr: stopped and chamfered panels, 3 wide and 2 deep. In front of each doorway, a tiled floor strip made up of red, brown and buff tiles, laid lozenge-wise inside a tile border. The chapel interior has a raked and wood-boarded floor descending to the Sedd Fawr; matchboarded dado up to window cill height; pale-green painted walls, lined as if for ashlar. Window openings with flat cills, chamfered jambs; semi-circular drip over windows descending to leaf corbels. Windows with clear glass panes except for bottom 2 panes of frosted glass; largely C20 glass. Front gable window opening with moulded edging and acanthus leaf consoles as corbels (the latter reminiscent of plaster motifs in mid-C19 Swansea Guildhall); the lowest panes of this window are concealed by wood boarding descending to floor level; green glass to side lights, with yellow, gold and blue glass to spandrels. Ceiling: plaster ceiling divided into 4 bays by stopped and chamfered ribs; white-painted sloping sides, but flat and yellow-painted at collar level. The flat centre strip contains plaster roses, each with white-painted outer mouldings framing painted acanthus leaves, with a 6-petal flower head as centrepiece.
Seating: open-bench seats of varnished pine with matchboarded backs; black-numbered white enamel plaques on the shaped and chamfered and flat-topped bench ends; red felt strips ornamented with crosses and fleur-de-lys as seat covers. Centre block of seats with matchboarded seat divider; single block of seats each side & facing straight ahead. The side blocks of seats are numbered 1-11 on the NE., and 32-42 on the SW. side, each side block with an unnumbered seat in front. The centre block is numbered 12-21 on its NE. side and 22-31 on its SW. side, again with an unnumbered seat in front.
Musical instruments: seats 21 and 22 in the centre (see above) have their central seat divider removed to make way for the organist's seat; the unnumbered seat in front has been cut away in the centre to make way for the late-C19 or early-C20 harmonium, by Bell organ and piano Co. Ltd., Guelph, Canada; this is single manual and has a fretwork-panel case. (Registration: Diapason 8'; Dulcet 8'; Sub Brass 10'; (illeg.); Vox humana; Forte treble coupler; Echo 8'; Celeste 8'; Dulciana 8'; Melodia 8').
Inside NE. door: late-C19 or early-C20 single-manual harmonium, no maker's name apparent; ornamented, for instance, with fretwork trellis panels, paterae. Registration: Bass coupler; Diapason; Echo; Vox humana; (illeg.); Dulciana; Melodia; Treble coupler.
Lighting and heating: electric lights hang from ceiling: C20 glass ball fittings. Pendant electric and radiant fire fittings. Gold-painted and metal lamp brackets on walls; not in use; 1 on each side wall and 1 at rear.
Sedd Fawr and pulpit: 1 step up each side to carpeted Sedd Fawr enclosure, bounded by 5-sided screen of large stopped and chamfered panels with moulded top; centre lectern with bracket supports ornamented with paterae, and with flanking brass candleholders; bench seat.
Flanking pulpit staircases are made up of straight flights of 4 wood steps with moulded wood handrail over square stopped and chamfered balusters; square stopped and chamfered newels with elongated stopped and chamfered caps with flat tops. Rectangular pulpit dais; panelled pulpit front with central projection under bracketed wood lectern. Pulpit front faced with stopped and chamfered panels: narrow vertical panels at sides, flanking wider vertical panels in centre. Wood bench seat against the boarded back to the pulpit dais.
Inside the Sedd Fawr enclosure, 2 Windsor chairs in front of the pulpit and a rectangular pine table.
On the NE. wall, a circular clock in an octagonal case ornamented with inlaid circlets of pearl; a wood bracket carved with vine motif to each side.
OMJ. 3/-5/97. Visited 11/3/97 with DJR, DP and PI. - Cause: 1808 Source:Jenkins, O M
- Rebuilt: 1872 Source:Jenkins, O M
- Electricity Fitted: 1939 Source:Jenkins, O M
- Built: 1844 Source:
- Date Of Chapel: 1872 Source:
- £ 490: 1905 (RCCEORBWM)
- 150: 1905 Sittings (RCCEORBWM)
- Chapel: 2000 (N Wales District Ch. list)
- Chapel: 07/2011 (R Scourfield)
- English: 2000 (N Wales District Ch. list)
- Materials
- Brick
- Monument Type: CHAPEL
- Form: Building
- Storey: Single Storey
- Style: Mixed
- Gallery: X
- Plan: Gable Entry
- Pulpit Position: Rear wall
- Window Glazing: "Y" Glazing
- Windows: Round-Headed
Key Details of this Chapel
Key Dates of this Chapel
Costs during this Chapels History
Capacities during this Chapels History
Changes of Status its History
The Languages of the Chapel during its History
Key Characteristics of this Chapel
2 thoughts on “Llawr-y-glyn English Methodist Church (wesleyan), Llawr-y-glyn”
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Hello
My great great grandparents were married in Kinnerton Chapel in Old Radnor on 21st May1850. I have been searching for information on the Chapel, so was pleased to find this website. I have now located it on Google Street View – looks like someone is ‘doing it up’ to live in: https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@52.2612635,-3.1095337,3a,90y,232.95h,84.26t/data=!3m9!1e1!3m7!1s-8DWPORkq2RFVNXBLde_-g!2e0!7i13312!8i6656!9m2!1b1!2i53?hl=en-GB
The marriage record of my ancestors Abraham Bounds and Elizabeth Williams is attached. I hope it is of interest.
All the best
Saira
Dear Sara
Thank you for the information. I am glad to hear that it was some help to you.
Good luck on your continued search
Christine