- Nprn: 6938
- Cadw Ref: AAA
- Cadw Record No: 19954
- Summary: Cefn-y-Waun Welsh Calvinist Methodist Chapel was built in 1838 on the site of a former school, but later rebuilt in 1868 by E. & R. Jones of Llanwnda to the design of R. Davies of Bangor. It is in the Romanesque style, built from rock-faced snecked stone with buff ashlar dressings, and topped by a slate roof. The chapel is entered via a pair of round-headed doorways in the front gable elevation, which has three bays with giant pilasters, a pedimented gable, and Lombardic cornice and oculus. The central bay has a large wheel window of 10 lights. The outer bays have pairs of round-headed windows with oculi and semi-circlets. The side bays are of two storeys, with six bays of round-headed windows, slightly taller to the upper storey. The rear elevation has a Lombardic cornice and oculcus.
Within the church is a fine ceiling with classical cornice, moulded panels and roses. There is a three-sided gallery with panelled front mounted upon iron columns with Corinthian capitals. The box pews form two aisles, in front of which is a panelled pulpit with heavy cornice and flanking curved stairs.
Source: Cadw Listed Building Record
RCAHMW Inventory Documents
K Steele, RCAHMW, 3 March 2009
In 2008, planning permission was sought to convert the chapel and vestry into two residential units,
ERB, 2008 - Description: Chapel founded & built 1827; modified, altered or rebuilt 1838, 1868-9, architect R.Davies of Bangor and builder E & R Jones of Llanwnda. Built in the Lombardic/Italian style, gable entry type. Status (1998): in chapel use.
Summary: a stone-built, and Lombardic Romanesque gable façade chapel with ashlar dressings; of later C19. Gallery. Box pews. Pulpit against rear gable. Built at right angles to what is considered to be the earlier chapel of 1838, converted in late C19 to a schoolroom/vestry and now with external and internal appearance of ca. 1900, with the exception of the front façade which, like the adjoining chapel house, has been altered in later C20.
History and development: Founded 1838 (Royal Commission on the Church of England and other religious bodies) and erected 1838 (Religious Census of 1851). Before 1838, however, there was a little Ysgoldy on the site, built according to some in 1828 and, according to others, in 1825 (David M. Jones & John Roberts, Traethdau ar Waen Cynfi (1869), p. 33). Before then, the faithful met in various places and, sometimes, on fine summer evenings, in the open air. In 1838, according to Jones & Roberts, the old school was converted into the 1838 chapel; according to John Hughes (Hanes Waen Cynfi (Caernarfon:1863/8) the old school served as the chapel house. In 1845, the 1838 chapel was extended, and in 1868-69 it was being rebuilt as the present chapel (Jones & Roberts).
Accommodation: space in 1851: free 7, other 87, standing 180; in 1905, seating accommodation for 550 in chapel and 200 in schoolroom (Royal Commission on the Church of England and other religious bodies).
Exterior: Front elevation: fine 3-bay façade of rock-faced stone in snecked courses with giant pilasters of ashlar rising to pedimental gable. In the ground floor centre bay, 3 steps (1st of slate, the third a doorstep of York stone) rise to paired semi-circular entrances, the 2 doorheads with billet ornament desending to antae and to single centre column; flower head and foliage caps; wooden-boarded doors with strap hinges. Large wheel window over the paired doorways, with columnar "spokes" between the 10 foils. To each side on ground floor, a smaller and circular traceried window, comprising a centre oculus enclosed by 6 semi-circlets. Plate-traceried end windows to gallery, of 2 lights with semi-circular heads on columnar shafts, and below centre circlet spandrels. In the gable, a smaller circular traceried window above the big wheel window (see above) made up of 8 circlets enclosing an oculus. Raked Italianate cornice.
Side elevations: 2-storey, 6-bay side elevations, rock-faced snecked stone; plinth; giant end pilasters of ashlar; plain semi-circular headed window openings of tooled ashlar; the ground-floor openings shorter; stone eaves cornice; ashlar kneelers and coping backing on to front and rear gables. The earlier semi-circular headed windows are wood-framed, with transom, and inset with obscured glass: 5 are retained in the NW. ground-floor elevation, the NE. 2 partly repaired; 3 wood-framed windows to the gallery (2nd, 3rd & 5th from SW.); otherwise, late-C20 plastic-framed windows. On SE. side, 4 rear wood-framed windows at ground floor; otherwise, plastic-framed windows to ground floor and to gallery.
Rear, NE. gable contains oculus with wooden-boarded cover beneath raked Lobardic cornice, as to front gable.
Schoolroom/ vestry exterior: the NE. gable of the chapel is built against the long side elevation of what is now the schoolroom/ vestry, but what is probably an earlier structure; its NE. side elevation lit by 3 semi-circular headed windows with margin panes; in its NW. gable a similar semi-circular headed window on SW., and a single-storey extension with hipped slate roof. Main slate roof to schoolroom. The former chapel house adjoins on NE..
The altered SE. front elevation to schoolroom with later C20 door in side of gabled porch; later-C20 windows to each side and to porch.
The chapel and grounds are enclosed by stone boundary walls on SE., SW., and NW., the SW. wall with railings, and the SE. wall bounding the road and with gates to chapel and to schoolroom. SE. and NW. boundary walls of stone, with alternate upright blocks of stone as coping. 2 wide shallow steps at gates to chapel forecourt, the upper step a massive slate slab; gate piers of rock-faced stone with stepped coping flank a pair of iron gates with tripartite finials to above top and lock rails; saltire bracing below lock rail. Part of the strip of ground in front of the chapel is laid with diamond block paviours of Ruabon type; grass plots to front and rear. The railings above the high SW. boundary wall comrise square uprights with similar finials to gates, inset with scroll work, partly of foliage design. The SW. wall & railings partly frame the Romanesque façade of the chapel, in the view from the SW..
Interior: Vestibules: an outer and an inner vestibule, the outer demarcated from the other by centre pier at the base of a rock-faced wall, the pier flanked by semi-circular arches with inset obscured glass fanlights, formerly above doors.
In the outer vestibule, the inner face of the external wall is similarly articulated: the central, painted, stone pier is flanked by semi-circular arched doorways (see Front Elevation, above) with matchboarding over. At each end of the outer vestibule, rock-faced walling above a flat-arched doorway to the gallery stairs, the doorways of tooled ashlar, and containing 2 doors, each door made up of 4 oblong, bolection-moulded panels in a vertical strip. Wide gallery staircases, the lower flights of 8 steps with 1 step on turn, and flanked by balustrades of square balusters under a moulded handrail; 2 newels at top and bottom and another by gallery door, having square caps and bases, partly turned and partly octagonal. Upper flights of 9 steps, with gallery door above the bottom step, the door of 8 bolection-moulded panels, painted as oak. Inner wall of each lower stairwell of cream-painted ashlar, and the 3 other walls of grey render scibed as ashlar.
The inner vestibule has a matchboarded dado below cream-painted walls; it projects into the centre back of the chapel with chapel doorways in each of its side walls, leading at right angles into the 2 chapel aisles.
Chapel interior: matchboarded dado to ground floor and gallery; rendered walls, scribed as ashlar. 3 wall vents each side. Ground-floor window openings with chamfered jambs, splayed reveals and conrete cills, their arched heads truncated internally by the raked gallery soffit. In the gallery, the plate-traceried SW. end windows are inset with plain obscured glass; the centre wheel window has dark-blue coloured-glass spandrels. At NE. end, semi-circular arched recess behind pulpit, its painted moulded head ornamented with flower heads similar to those on door capitals at front entrance (see above). Ornate painted caps to apricot-painted pilasters, to which are attached oil lamp brackets and mantels. Beside the pulpit, a door of 4 bolection-moulded panels with moulded architrave at entrance to the present schoolroom.
Ceilings: raked soffits to gallery with white-plaster ceilings and external cornices over parts of ground floor seating.
Main ceiling over gallery has outer cornice with dentil moulding, green bead moulding, pink moulding, modillions and a pale-blue moulding.The rectangular ceiling has white-panelled margin strips, the margin strips on an apricot-painted ground, their sunk, white panels with green and pale-blue moulded edging. In each margin strip, white square end panels, a white octagonal panel in the centre and 2 longer intermediate & ovular white panels. Inside the outer margin strip, a large inner rectangle of white-painted matchboarding subdivided by ribs into further panels, and comprising a 3-panel strip at NE. and SW. ends, enclosing an ocatgon which has an octagonal rose panel in centre, and is surrounded by an outer octagon of margin panels.
Pale-green acanthus leaves in plaster rose, red in centre and red tips.
Lighting: pendant electric lights: 4 on SE. and NW. sides, 2 at back and 3 in middle.
Gallery: at rear and sides. The gallery beam is supported by 8 cast-iron columns; the gallery beam has a boarded soffit and has a Lombard frieze applied to its front face. The 8 columns have apricot-painted upper shafts above a gold-painted shaft ring and brown-painted lower shafts; Corinthian caps picked out in gold and white. Gallery front with deep moulded top and bottom cornices, enclosing wide shallow panels, 6 to each side, 2 on each curved intersection and 2 at back, the last flanking integral circular clock with legend: "W. William Jones/ Carnarvon".
Ground-floor seating: largely arranged as a centre block of paired pews and as side blocks of single pews, all facing forwards. The box pews have bench seats with horizontal fielded-panel backs;the bench ends are vertically sided at the back and curved and scrolled in front, beside the bench seats, and rise to flat tops in the form of a moulded cornice ( see bench ends at Moreia, Llangefni and Hyfrydle, Holyhead). Single stop-chamfer panels to pew doors which have brass catches and hinges, and gold and black-painted pew numbering on blue/grey-painted "escutcheons" on the top rail. The paired pews in the centre block have a discontinuous vertical-panel pew divider; the seat backs are either of 2 panel or 2 and a bit panel width; 3 bases for former lamps along each aisle. The centre pews are numbered 17 (rear) to 25 on the SE. and 30-38 on the NW.; each side at the front, an unnumbered pew with 2 pew doors, inset with wood block parquet floor and containing a piano and a 2-manual electronic organ. The side blocks of pews are set slightly lower than the paired centre block, and have 2 raised and fielded-panel seat backs under a curved top beading. They are numbered 8 (at front) to 16 on the SE., and 39-47 on the NW., both blocks also with 2 unnumbered seats at the rear. In addition, at right angles, and in front of each side block, are 2 small blocks of single pews, numbered 2-4 and 5-7 on NW. and 48-50 and 51-53 on NW.; the 2 northern blocks are set higher.
Sedd Fawr and pulpit: 2 steps up each side to rectangular Sedd Fawr enclosure, which widens NE. of its entrances. Enclosure faced externally with panelling above a plinth, the panelling in turn below a shallow strip of turned baluster arcading with discs in spandrels; 2 horizontal panels in front, each side of a vertical-panelled cupboard-cum-lectern; 1 panel to each return and 3 panels minus arcading to N. of lateral entrances. Bench seats with sloping raised and fielded panel backs; flat and buttoned upholstered cushion seats. Square and raised panel newels with tall turned finials on stop-chamfer bases. 2 curving flights of pulpit stsirs up to pulpit doors; balustrades of irontwist balusters; irontwist newels with caps and ball finials.
Pulpit: with lateral doors and curved angles at front and rear and with rectangular extrusion at centre front; heavy moulded centre cornice with plain wood facing below; bolection-moulded panelling above, including 2 vertical panels at centre front. Semi-circular recess behind pulpit, framed by semi-circular arch (for arch, see above). Bench seat at back of pulpit and between pulpit arch pilasters; panelling with raised and curved top, inside pulpit arch, and below wooden hymn board with triangular head. Inside the Sedd Fawr enclosure, a neo-Gothic chair and table, to the architect's design?; the table faced with Lombard frieze and both with irontwist bottom rail.
Gallery seating: vertical raised and fielded panel backs to gallery box pews. Each side from Sedd Fawr end: 1) a block of single pews with 6-panel seat backs; numbered on the NW. side of the chapel 1-3 and, on the SE. side of the chapel, 38-40; 2): a block of paired pews of 2 pews depth with 5-panel seat backs, numbered 4-5 and 6-7 on NW. side of chapel, and 34-35 and 36-37 on SE.; lateral wall bench to rear; 3): block of paired pews curved round gallery intersection; numbered on NW. side of chapel, 8 & 9 on NE., and 10 and 11 on SE.; numbered on SE. side of chapel, 32 & 33 on NE. and 30 & 31 on SE.. A curved cross-aisle to rear; 4): behind the cuved aisle, a block of single pews, 3 deep, with unnumbered 4th seat in front; on NW. side of chapel, numbered 18-20, and on SE. side, numbered 21-23; 5): at centre back of gallery, a block of paired pews, its NW. side numbered 12-17 and its SE. side 24-29. Continuous seat divider removed from rear pew.
Musical instruments: in front pew, 2-manual electronic organ, "Gulbransen/ Pacemaker" on SE.; upright piano on NW., bearing label, "Siop Eifionydd Porthmadog".
Wall memorials: 1st World War memorial on NW. of pulpit, veined white marble in form of sarcophagus under triangular pediment.
Schoolroom interior: wooden-boarded floor; matchboarded dado; rendered walls scribed as ashlar, the long NE. and SW. walls of 4 bays punctuated by pilasters. Semi-circular window openings, 2 on SE., 3 on NE. and 1 on NW.; angle beads, white-painted plaster heads and rendered reveals; 8-pane windows under semi-circular heads and with margin panes; the SE. windows are plastic-framed. White-painted plaster ceiling with flat centre and sloping sides, divided into 4 bays by thin stop and chamfer trusses; circular vent panels in flat centre ceiling strip. In SE. wall, 2 doors each of 2 moulded panels with brass & ?ebony handles; flanking pine cupboards. Oblong NW. dais with stepped entrance each side of central lectern; enclosure faced with moulded vertical panels and cornice below a low, balustraded parapet of trabeated vase balusters; square newels with raised panels, and turned finials with stop-chamfer base. Matchboarded dado rises at rear of dais. Lectern with panelled front and shaped sides. Circular wall clock, bearing legend: "R. Lloyd Carnarvon". Photos of Ministers on NW. wall. Late-C19 and early-C20 seating on each side of centre aisle: partly iron-framed desks-cum-benches (5 on NE. and 4 on SW.); iron-framed benches with moveable backs (3 on SW. and NE.).
OMJ. 5/-8/97. Visited 24/5/97 with DJR & PI. - Built (conv. To Vestry): 1838 Source:Jenkins, O M
- Built: 1869 Source:Pritchard, J
- Founded: 1838 Source:RCCEORBWM
- Founded: 1838 Source:RCCEORBWM
- Founded: 1838 Source:Cadw
- Date Of Chapel: 1868 Source:Cadw
- Schoolr. Conv. To Chapel: 1838 Source:Cadw
- Rebuilt: 1868-1869 Source:Jones & Roberts
- Schoolr. From 1838 Chapel: 1896-1898 Source:Cadw
- Built: 1827 Source:
- Architect: 1869 Richard Davies, Bangor
- Builder: 1869 Evan Jones, Caerns
- £ 4100: 1905 (RCCEORBWM)
- 550: 1905 Sittings (RCCEORBWM)
- 200: 1905 Sittings (RCCEORBWM)
- Chapel: 02/06/1998 (Cadw)
- Disused: 2008 Planning permission sought for domestic conversion. (ERB)
- Disused: 2011 (Geograph website)
- Materials
- Stone
- Monument Type: CHAPEL
- Form: Building
- Style: Lombardic
- Gallery: On three sides
- Plan: Gable Entry
- Pulpit Position: Rear wall
- Windows: Wheel window
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
Key Characteristics of this Chapel
2 thoughts on “CEFN-Y-WAUN CHAPEL (WELSH CALVINISTIC METHODIST;CEFN Y WAEN), DEINIOLEN (CEFN Y WAEN)”
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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