- Nprn: 7139
- Cadw Ref: 22/C/24(3)
- Cadw Record No: 10478
- Summary: The Independant cause began in 1792 with meetings held in a house at Pwllhay, the first chapel in St Mary's Lane built in 1803. The chapel was rebuilt on a larger scale in 1831, and then again in 1869/70, when it was redesigned by the eminent chapel architect Thomas Thomas of Landore at a cost of £1500. In 1876 it received a new facade and a gallery was inserted to increase seating in 1905. In 1885 a house and vestry was added by D Davies of Penrhiwllan.
The present chapel has a tall facade of Italinate design built from dressed stone, constrasting with side walls built of rubble stone. Key features include the oculus in the ecntre of the pediment and the urn finials representative of Thomas Thomas' designs.
Internally there are open-ended pews, those to the sides angled to face the pulpit. The rectangular sedd fawr faces onto a canted pulpit decorated with Saltaire crosses. Behind the pulpitis the organ, produced by Blackett and Howden, Newcastle-on-Tyne, Glasgow and Cardiff. there is a three sided gallery, supported on cast-iron columns, and with a front of wooden panels inset with openwork panels of scrolled iron circlets. there is an integral clock dated to 1870.
The Religious Census of 1851 records the chapel as able to accommodate 144 people, the extended chapel by 1903 able to seat 600. In 1905 (Royal Commission on the Church of England and other Religious Bodies in Wales and Monmouthshire) valued the cahpel at £3000. The chapel is Grade 2 listed.
RCAHMW, October 2009 - Description: 1. Cause begun 1792 & chapel built 1803. Rebuilt/enlarged 1831 & again 1869/70 to the design of Rev. Thomas Thomas of Landore. - Cost £1500. Modified/renewed 1875-6 & 1889. Building style is Classical, gable entry type. Status (1998): in chapel use.
2. A tall Italianate Renaissance building with a 3-bay gable façade of dressed stone and rubble side elevations. There are very tall semi-circular headed windows, at high level along the sides (for gallery). Elaborate gable finals. .
CD/Ecclesiastical/SN14SW from A.J. Parkinson.
CHN 07/05/04
Cause commenced about 1792 in a dwelling house at Pwllhay; first purpose-built chapel of 1803 in St Mary's Lane, entirely rebuilt and enlarged in 1831. Enlarged and rebuilt 1869-70 (commenced 24 May 1869, re-opened 21 and 22 September, 1870 (see Cardigan & Tivyside Advertiser, 23 September, 1870)). Intended to seat between 700 and 800, and measuring 61 feet long and 41 feet wide. Architect: The Reverend Thomas Thomas of Glandwr, near Swansea; contractor: Mr J.R.Daniel, St. Mary Street, Cardigan. Front entirely of 1869-70; side walls and pine end, from height of gallery upwards, also dating from then. Vestry and chapel house of ca. 1889 by D.Davies, Penrhiwllan. Accommodation given as 600 in Horsfall-Turner. Further work of ca. 1905 (new organ?) and 1929.
Summary: stone-built rectangular gable façade chapel with centre doorway; end pulpit, opposite entrance, with later organ behind. Gallery. Open bench seats. SE. vestry & chapel house.
Exterior: shallow courses of Cilgerran stone. Box ground Bath stone dressings, now painted. Banded slate roof with centre vent.
Front elevation: 3-bay gable façade of snecked and rock-faced limestone. Set back from Feidr Fair behind a narrow, railed forecourt. Plinth-cum-window cill band with giant end pilasters to projecting moulded cornice below pedimental gable, with vase finials, the gable subdivided into 3 panels, with centre keyed oculus framing a lozenge-pane window. Below the pedimental gable, a tall pair of windows to each side, each window of 2 lights and 8 panes depth, including rounded top panes; glazed spandrels; paired pilasters, moulded archivolts and keystones. Shorter triplet of windows in centre, each window also of 2 lights but of 5 panes depth, including arched top panes; taller and wider window in centre. Central doorway with panelled pilasters, moulded jamb, panelled archivolt, faceted keystone and moulded hoodmould, the last returning to panelled corbels supported by brackets with tapering finials; 2 doors of 2 moulded panels, under a segmental head; fanlight containing glazed circlet and spandrels; 5 steps to door from centre gates, iron railings and gates and gate piers; square, moulded-panel iron gate piers with pyramidal caps; dwarf stone walls with moulded coping. Ovoid panel railings above lozenges and quatrefoils at the base and lozenges and fleur-de-lys finials over. Short returns. Similar, 2-tier panelling to gates, but with quatrefoils in lock rail. Yellow brick gate pier on r.h., adjoining C19 iron gate between Capel Mair and the chapel house, the gate with fleur-de-lys finials and the iron gate pier with triangular-headed panel stamped "Thomas & Co. Cardigan".
4-bay lateral elevations of shallow blocks of stone. Semi-circular headed windows with grey-painted heads and keystones and projecting cills. 2-light windows of 4 panes depth including quadrant lights in the head. W. window in NW. side of 3-pane depth. Lower rendered organ loft projection at rear with slate roof and a semi-circular headed window to each side.
Chapel house: 2-storey, 3-bay rendered façade to Feidr Fair, under slate roof with red brick stacks, the end & centre gables with decorative bargeboards. 4-pane sash windows in plain reveals with segmental heads. Central door up 3 modern tile steps; two-thirds glazed modern door with shallow overlight.
C20 extension on SE. of the Vestry and chapel house, the original SE. elevation to the Vestry now obscured.
Interior: vestibule interior: encaustic tile floor. Painted-plaster walls. Raked white-painted ceiling; moulded circular decorative rose, its edging picked out in pink, white and gold; guilloche border; circular centre panel of white-painted acanthus leaves on a dark-green ground. Fanlight to external door contains C19 etched glass, e.g., foliate cross in circlet. Inner vestibule wall with canted sides containing paired doors to chapel (C20 face to vestibule, and the face to chapel covered with green (crimson in 1876) baize, with planted panels of gilt moulding; the outer doors wider). Centre 2-light C19 rectilinear window with foliate blue and white margin panes, and angle blocks with white crosses etched on red ground; these frame 2 etched rectangular glass panels, each subdivided into a centre lozenge pane. Similar single-light overlight to flanking doors which are in turn flanked by a similar but four lozenge-pane window on the lower flights of stairs. At each end of vestibule, gallery staircase of wood, the lower flight of 8 steps with inner wood balustrade; above the turn, painted and grained 4-panel door; upper flights of 10 steps.
Chapel interior: carpeted aisles. Low wooden-boarded platforms to seats. Painted and grained matchboarded dado with dark-brown stained top rail. Pale-green painted plaster walls. Gallery windows have chamfered jambs and stops at impost level all picked out in dark green. Wall vents in gallery and below and flanking Sedd Fawr.
Ceiling of painted plasterboard, picked out by white moulded ribs into rectangles of diminishing size; the larger, inner rectangle is framed by margin panels with angle vents, and is further subdivided by end triangular panels connected by centre rib to "handsome centre flower" (CTA, 1870), retaining decorative plasterwork at its centre and in two encircling borders.
Downstairs seating: painted and grained open-ended seats with wide and shallow sunk-panel backs; painted and grained bookrests with carved bracket supports; simple shaped and stopped and chamfered bench ends with circular bosses on rounded tops; white enamel number plaques; some seats retaining brass umbrella holders at ends. Paired centre block of seats of 14 seats depth (21-34 on NW. and 35-48 on SE.); discontinuous seat dividers and seat backs alternately of 1 and 1 and a bit panel width. Lateral seats set askew, with external ends set forward (numbered 1-13 on NW. and 56-68 on SE. sides). Each side, at Sedd Fawr end, 2 single blocks of seats separated from each other by an aisle and facing on to centre of chapel at right angles: these comprise firstly, nos. 14 and 15 and 16-19 on NW.; and, on SE., no. 53 and nos.54-55, nos. 49-52 having been removed, and their site occupied by an upright piano (Bell, London & Canada).
Sedd Fawr, pulpit and organ: rectangular Sedd Fawr enclosure faced externally with two tiers of panels, moulded at base and with openwork cast-iron panels above, divided into bays by panelled timber newels, the newels with Tudor rose paterae in centre and with Jacobethan type finials. The Sedd Fawr faced internally with moulded panelling above & sunk panelling below; bench seat replaced by 10 Windsor chairs, of earlier C20?; an earlier Windsor chair and cast-iron umbrella stand each side of pulpit; an upholstered Windsor chair behind the Communion table.
Pulpit at back of Sedd Fawr with flanking pulpit stairs of 7 steps each, with turned wood balusters, carved open string and moulded mahogany handrail; newels similar but not identical to those in Sedd Fawr parapet. Pulpit projection with curved sides to rear of canted centre projection, the curved sides with turned balusters above single curved moulded panels. Cantilevred semi-polygonal centre with panelled soffit descending to moulded-panel column at base; upper panels at sides and front faced with mahogany? Saltire crosses on fretted wood and gold-painted ground. An upholstered C19 wood-framed settle seat in pulpit, not unlike those in Capel Bethania (NPRN: 7141).
The organ is set above and behind the pulpit, framed in a lofty semi-circular arch with panelled soffit, gold, pink and green-painted keystone with flanking swags and moulded white-painted archivolt. Organ case with wood panelling at base. Above keyboard, silver-painted organ pipes arranged in 3 bays with cusped front rails: 13 pipes in each outer bay, centre 15 pipes arranged on a curve above timber arch with keystone over organ keyboards, the centre 5 pipes of this bay in an oriel projection. Two-manual organ by Blackett and Howden, Newcastle-on-Tyne, Glasgow and Cardiff; rebuilt 1984 by Michael J. Grange, St. David's. Registration: Swell: Violin diapason 8', Viol di gamba 8', Rohr flute 8', Voix celeste 8', Geigen principal 4', Oboe 8', Horn 8', Swell octave, Tremulant.
Couplers: Swell to pedal, Great to pedal, Swell to great
Pedal: Bourdon 16', Bass flute 8'
Great: Open diapason 8', Clarabella 8', Dulciana 8', Pricipal 4', Lieblich flute 4', Fifteenth 2', Clairionet 8'.
Gallery: 3-sided gallery, the gallery front curved at the intersections. Gallery beam supported by 7 cast-iron columns, octagonal and brown-painted and grained to top of bench seats; fluted shafts above with gilt flutes and dark-green fillets; pink caps with green shaft-rings and egg and dart echinus. Gallery front made up of wood-framed panels divided into bays by pink-panelled and green-framed pilaster strips with central Tudor rose paterae; white & green chevron-moulded top cornice; scalloped cornice at base. The panels are inset with openwork panels of scrolled iron circlets. Integral circular clock, dated 1870, at end of gallery (presumably the one inscribed on the back: "Presented by H.D. Davies Esq., Trewindsor Mills, 1870" (C&TA, 9/9/1870)).
Raked gallery seating, the painted and grained seats similar to those below but with higher and vertical multi-panel backs. On each side of the gallery from Sedd Fawr end 1): a single block of seats, 3 deep, the front 2 with 4-panel seat backs and the 3rd with 5; 2): a paired block of seats, 2 seats deep, with 5-panel back on E. and 4-panel back on W.; continuous wall bench at rear with multi-panel back. 3): paired block of seats, 2 deep, with part curved round gallery intersection; an aisle to rear of this curved part, extending across the end of the gallery between the 2 gallery staircases; 3 seats behind the aisle, plus a corner bench attached to continuous end wall bench at rear. Facing the pulpit and behind the clock at the end of the gallery is a single block of seats with 6-panel seat backs; stick baluster back to continuous wall bench at rear (see above). 34 numbered seats in gallery.
Vestry interior: carpeted floor with 2-step dais at NE. end; pale-green painted matchboarded dado, ramped up each side behind dais. White-painted plaster walls and ceiling, the last of five bays, with flat centre portion and sloping sides; chamfered braces beneath trusses. 2 blocked former sash window openings on SE. and 2 similar truncated and semi-circular sash windows on NW.. 4 moulded-panel door on SE. to Chapel House extension. On dais, 19th-century saltire-panelled pulpit box with 3 panels to front and 1 to sides. Later-C20 vestry extension on SE.
Conclusion: in stylistic details comparable with other Cardiganshire chapels by The Reverend Thomas Thomas Landore: externally, the keyed oculus in the pediment and urn finials comparable, for instance, with those on the Calvinistic Methodist Capel Tabernacl, Aberaeron (refronted 1869); oculus also beneath the giant arch of Seion, Llandysul (Annibynwyr; 1870-71); a general, rather than close similarity with windows on Capel Tabernacl, Aberaeron, while the window tracery is similar to Capel Seion's. Internally, similar ceiling to both Seion, Llandysul and to the Calvinistic Methodist Capel Bethel, Newcastle Emlyn, Carmarthenshire (remodelled or entirely rebuilt, 1869); the vestibule windows and bench seats stylistically similar to Capel Bethel's with the omission of the pew doors still found in 1869 at Capel Bethel.
OJ 26/10 & 25/12/95; 27/11/96-1/97. Visited by OJ 26/10/95 & by DJR, DP, PI & OJ briefly on 26/11/96 and also by PI & OJ on 9/1/97, by kind permission of the Chapel Secretary
Sources: Cardigan & Tivyside Advertiser, 25/12/1868, 4/6/1869, 3/9/1869, 9/9/1870, 23/9/1870, 29/9/1889, 29/9/1889, 22/12/1905; D.J.Roberts, Capel Mair (Llandysul:Gwasg Gomer,1955); D.J.Lewis, "Gateway to Wales": a history of Cardigan (Carmarthen?: Dyfed CC Cultural Services, 1990); E.R.Horsfall-Turner, Walks and wanderings in County Cardigan (1903). NMR photos: investigator snaps.
1870 Classic gabled dressed stone front by Rev. Thomas. Painted stone surrounds, arch headed windows. Slate roof. Original interior. Vesty and house adjacent. 1993 PCNPA. - Gallery Added: 1905 Source:Cadw
- Built: 1803 Source:Horsfall-Turner
- Built: 1870 Source:PCNPA
- Built: 1870-1871 Source:Cadw
- Built: 1803 Source:Evan James
- Cause: 1672 Source:Horsfall-Turner
- Cause: 1792 Source:Evan James
- House & Vestry: 1885 Source:Cadw
- Vestry/chapel House: c.1889 Source:Evan James
- Date Of Chapel: 1875 Source:
- Rebuilt: 1869 Source:Horsfall-Turner
- Rebuilt: 1869-1870 Source:Evan James
- Rebuilt/gallery: 1831 Source:Evan James
- Rebuilt: 1831 Source:Horsfall-Turner
- Facade Renewed: 1875-1876 Source:Evan James
- Builder: 1885 D. Davies, Penrhiwllan
- Architect: c.1889 David Davies,
- Architect: 1869-1870 Thomas Thomas, Landore
- Builder: 1869-1870 J.R. Daniel,
- £ 3000: 1905 (RCCEORBWM)
- 600: 1903 (Horsfall-Turner)
- 144: 1851 ()
- 236: 1851 ()
- 600: 1905 (RCCEORBWM)
- Chapel: 1998 (Blwyddiadur)
- Chapel: 2/12/2010 (Denominational website)
- Welsh: 1998 (Blwyddiadur)
- Materials
- Stone
- Monument Type: CHAPEL
- Form: Building
- Storey: Two Storey
- Style: Classical
- Gallery: On three sides
- Plan: Gable Entry
- Pulpit Position: Rear wall
- Window Glazing: "Y" Glazing
- 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
Images from Coflein
Map
- Grid Reference: SN17994611
- Address: FEIDR FAIR, CARDIGANCARDIGAN
2 thoughts on “CAPEL MAIR WELSH INDEPENDENT CHAPEL (ST MARY'S), FEIDR FAIR, CARDIGAN (ST MARY'S)”
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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