- Nprn: 11695
- Summary: Blaenywaun Baptist Chapel was first built in 1745 with a thatched rook. This was rebuilt in 1795, 1838 and again in 1885. The present chapel, dated 1895, was designed by architect Owen Lewis of London and built in the Sub-classical style. The chapel has a gable entry plan, 2 storeys, a 3-bay facade and slate gable roof. Each end bay has a tall semi-circular headed window opening with keystone and projecting cill and 18-panes with radiating heads. A similar window to the end bays is located above the porch - 6-pane with radiating heads. The semi-circular headed porch contains a small semi-circular headed stained glass windows on each side of the wall.
RCAHMW, May 2011 - Description: Cause 1706; Built 1745; Rebuilt 1795, 1838, 1885 (cost £1815 11s 7d). Built in the Simple Round-Headed style. Status (1998): Chapel
Preaching began in the area in 1706. This is the third chapel on the site, the first small and thatched roofed meeting house having been built in 1745, and a loft inserted in 1777. Rebuilt in 1795-96 as a rectangular meeting house with lateral entries. Datestones from the first two chapels are in the porch: "Blaenywayn/ 1795/ On Wm Facit"; "T8 P1777H/ AD 1745/W.B.". A print showing the second and lateral entry chapel is in the vestibule. The present chapel dates from 1885-86; Owen Lewis of London, architect; Mr John Davies of New Quay builder. It stands at the top of the large chapel burial ground, at the east end of a long, grassy track leading up from the St. Dogmael's road. The situation is remote, but stems from the need for seclusion in the early years of the cause at Blaenywaun, the chapel having served and still serving the village of St. Dogmael's, although built almost a mile to the south of it. Membership of ca. 600 in the 1930s.
Rendered gable façade to NW. with centre entry. Three bays with four giant pilasters to a simple and stepped cornice, with pedimental gable over. Plinth. Centre pilasters rise to form an arch over narrower centre bay which has a porch built against it on the ground floor, also rendered, and with slate gable roof with bargeboard and finial. One step with radiating cuts in the tread to semi-circular headed porch entry with plain pilasters, stepped caps, plain archivolt and keystone, projecting from plain round-arched opening. A further step leads up to the two entrance doors, each of three moulded panels with rounded top. A small semi-circular headed window containg stained glass in each side wall of porch. Above the porch, a semi-circular headed window opening with plain reveals and projecting cill is framed by the centre arch and contains a six-pane window with two-pane radiating head. In each end bay, a tall semi-circular headed window opening with keystone and projecting cill, the window similar to centre window but on a larger scale, that is, of eighteen panes with two-pane radiating head.
NE. and SW. lateral elevations of five bays each, with six giant pilasters rising to a stepped cornice. Window openings and windows similar to front gable windows, but of fifteen panes under a two-pane radiating head. In the SW. lateral elevation, four marble slabs are affixed to the bottom of the wall, two in Welsh and two in English as memorials of the opening of the chapel, the south-easternmost one reading: "This/ memorial stone/ was fixed by/ Owen Lewis,/ Architect of London,/ assisted by William Samebrook/ Monmouth May 25th 1885".
Rear SE. gable elevation a simpler version of the front elevation; pedimental gable as to front elevation, including scrolled chapel name and date of construction; ventilator slit over. Giant end pilasters to a shaped cornice, but without centre arch; two centre semi-circular headed windows as to other windows, but of nine panes. These flank a rendered projection with grey-painted pedimental gable with finial.
Porch interior: floor of small black and white tiles laid lozenge-wise. Datestones on the porch walls flanking the inner doorway.
Vestibule interior: blue linoleum floor. Matchboarded dado. White-grey painted-plaster walls. Raked plaster ceiling. Inner wall of vestibule has a centre window of two round-arched lights infilled with stained glass, of early-20th century date? To each side, a six-moulded panel door to chapel. At each end of vestibule, a gallery staircase with turned wood balusters and large turned newel; lower flights of eight steps to a turn.
Chapel interior: matchboarded dado; peach-gold painted plaster walls. Three-sided gallery, raked and white-painted plaster soffits. Moulded ceiling cornice, picked out in e.g. green, mauve/pink; pink and pale blue round edges of ceiling. Flat white-painted plaster ceiling with large decorative centre rose with pink border edged with blue and green moulding; green acanthus leaves.
Raked wooden-boarded floor with carpeted aisles. Open pitch-pine seats with shaped and chamfered Gothic ends, matchboarded panel backs with half moulding at the top; bookrests at the front with glass holders for Communion.
Paired bank of seats of twelve seats depth in centre, connected to front of Sedd Fawr and with continuous matchboarded pew divider.
Single lateral banks of seats of twelve seats depth. At the front, on the N. and facing at right angles on to side of Sedd Fawr, are one long bench against the wall with two seats in front; Universty organ on west here. On S. side, and also facing at right angles on to side of Sedd Fawr: a five panel banch along the external wall, two seats in front of it on E. and one on W., the last behind a late-19th or early-20th century single-manual Kar?n harmonium, its pretty and ornate wooden case decorated with carved wood and fretwork panels, below and above the keyboard.
Rectangular Sedd Fawr faced externally on N. and S. returns with two tiers of matchboarded panelling in stopped and chamfered frame. Bench seat wth matchboarded back and with shaped ends at lateral entries.
Rectangular pulpit dais with two flights of stairs to each side; lower flights of five steps to a turn, and two steps above to dais; turned wood baluters; large and turned newel with turned finial. Rectangular pulpit projection faced with cast-iron open-work Gothic arcading with brass handrail; three and a half panels each side of central lectern projection of wood. This last is faced with three panels of Gothic arcading in two tiers and has shaped ends that are set above those to the matchboarded Minister's seat in the Sedd Fawr, which is built against the pulpit base and flanked by matchboarded panel seats with shaped ends.
Blue-carpeted pulpit dais; brown-upholstered 19th-century settle bench seat with turned legs and arms. Plaster arch behind pulpit with green and white-painted panelled pilasters with caps and moulded archivolt.
Organ: two-manual University organ on N. of Sedd Fawr.
Registration: (l.h.:) Swell: Salicional 8, Voix celestes 8, Oboe 8, Vox humana, Flute 4
Couplers: Swell to pedal, Octave coupler, Swell to great
(R.h.:) Great: Diapason 8, Dulciana 8, Trombone 16, Principal 4
Pedal: Great to pedal, Sub-bass 16, Bourdon 16
Stopped and chamfered gallery beam faced with dentil cornice; supported by iron columns, the shafts fluted above octagonal lower portions; caps. Projecting gallery front of stopped and chamfered and faceted and vertical wood panels, with moulded cornice; canted at end intersections. Integral clock, and on the clockface: "Presented by T.Sambrook Cardigan".
Gallery seating: seats with matchboarded backs and shaped ends. On each side of gallery from Sedd Fawr end, wall bench with shaped ends along external wall; four single banks of seats in two tiers in front. At end of gallery, behind the clock, a paired bank of seats of four seats depth, the second seat from front without seat division.
Former stable, now vestry:
Built close to the road and within the walls of the burial ground a little over 100 yards to SW. of Capel Blaenywaun. Set above the burial ground and enclosed from it on NW. and NE. by an artificial stone wall that in turn encloses a concrete path leading round the N. end of the building from the road. Single-storey outbuilding with stone rubble walls and slate roof with finial at each end and bargeboard to NE. gable. A small boarded window opening in either gable wall. In NW. elevation, facing the burial ground, a half-glazed four-panel door, painted grey, at the NW. end; a small concrete free-standing in front. In the NE. elevation to the road, two former doorways, the NE. doorway wider, and both now converted to window openings with wood lintels and projecting cills, and containing small-paned windows, the SE. window of two lights and the NE of three. An iron gate and gate piers, one gate pier stamped "Thomas & Co., Cardigan", at the entrance to the north path round the building from the road. Circular uprights, alternately to above the lower-middle and top rails, with white-painted finials below top rail; curved brace above lower rail.
Concrete free-standing for vehicular access by NW. entrance to chapel interior and on its SW.. The burial ground - a former field? - is surrounded by a low stone rubble wall, at places covered in grass and other vegetation. Gates at original NW. entrance, at foot of grassy track leading up to chapel entrance from the St. Dogmael's road. Three gates, with circular uprights alternately to lower -middle and top rails with white-painted finials below top rail; curved brace above lower rails; stone quadrant wall to each side with stone end piers, the S. wall incorp[orating a stone and slate stile. Plainer gates, without the top finials, also at NE. entrance to burial ground.
19th-century and later headstones and memorials in the burial ground; to S. of the chapel entrance, railings enclose the memorial erected in 1852 to The Reverend David Philips of Hendre, Pastor at Blaenywaun for 26 years; a stone arch with entablature, the slate memorial slab inset within the arch and an oval slate plaque inserted in the entablature.
Baptistery in Cwm Dogwel:
About 300 yards to the north of Capel Blaenywaun and connected to that chapel. Late-19th century open air baptistery, dating probably from the opening of the third Capel Blaenywaun. Set in a grassy enclosure to west of the road leading north from Capel Blaenywaun to St. Dogmael's. Oval basin entered by candidates for baptism via steps leading down from the west, candidates then leaving the baptistery after baptism by steps leading up to the east. Step for the Minister close to the top of the west steps, where he stands for prayer making. Stepped east and west sides, and south end, to accommodate the congregation; steps with red brick risers and concrete treads, the treads used as seats, and formerly of slate. Four step-seats on E. and W. and six on S., the southern of the six S. steps extending sideways to E. and W..
The Baptistery is enclosed from the road by a wire fence and concrete posts; gates of late-19th or early-20th century date at the entrance, similar to those to the burial ground at Capel Blaenywaun.
Seen from the roadside, 15/11/95.
OMJ
15/11/95 & 14/1/96
Visited on 15/11/95 by kind permission both of the Minister, The Reverend D.H.Edwards and of the Chapel Secretary, Mrs James. Visited in the company of Mr and Mrs James (Belle Vue, St. Dogmael's, Aberteifi, Dyfed SA43 3JF).
Sources: Benjamin Rees, Hanes eglwysi y Bedyddwyr yn Blaenywaun; Gerazim; Penuel, Cemaes a Tabernacl, Trewyddel, Sir Benfro (Llangollen: W.Williams, 1899). Cargigan & Tivyside Advertiser, 29/5/1885, 13/8/1886, 30/3/1906, 20/4/1906, 2/7/1926
Rebuilt 1885. Simple Classic gable. Rendered stone/slate. 5 bays arch headed windows to sides, with plain pilasters. 1993 PCNPA. - Loft Inserted: 1777 Source:Evan James
- Built: 1745 Source:Evan James
- Built: 1745 Source:Religious Census
- Built: 1838 Source:Horsfall-Turner
- Built: 1865 Source:Jones, Anthony
- Cause: 1706 Source:Evan James
- Church Formed: 1795 Source:Llawlyfr 1998
- Date Of Chapel: 1885 Source:
- Rebuilt: 1885 Source:PCNPA
- Rebuilt: 1885-1886 Source:Evan James
- Rebuilt(1): 1795 Source:Evan James
- Rebuilt(2): 1885 Source:Evan James
- Builder: 1885-1886 John Davies,
- Architect: 1885-1886 Owen Lewis, London
- £ 2950: 1905 (RCCEORBWM)
- 50: 1851 (Religious Census)
- 650: 1905 Sittings (RCCEORBWM)
- 200: 1903 (Horsfall-Turner)
- Chapel: 1998 (Llawlyfr)
- Welsh: 1998 (Llawlyfr)
- Materials
- Rendered
- Monument Type: CHAPEL
- Form: Building
- Storey: Two Storey
- Style: Sub Classical
- Gallery: On Three Sides
- Plan: Gable Entry
- Pulpit Position: Rear Wall
- Window Glazing: Round Headed
- Windows: Tall Round-Headed
Key Details of this Chapel
Key Dates of this Chapel
Key People in this Chapel History
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
4 thoughts on “BLAENYWAUN WELSH BAPTIST CHAPEL (BLAENWAUN), ST DOGMAEL'S (BLAENWAUN)”
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Owen Lewis Architect of Blaenywaun was born 1828 Parkywaun, St Dogmaels. Owen’s great grandfather Owen William of Llwyndafydd, St Dogmaels the builder of Blaenywaun Chapel in 1795.
Owen Lewis also the architect of Castle Street Baptist Chapel, London
Many thanks for this information
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