University Anglican Chaplaincy Centre

The University Anglican Chaplaincy Centre comprises several buildings, including a house named Craig Menai, a chapel, and associated accommodation ranges and passages. Craig Menai is a two-story and attic house of red brick with a slate roof, dating to an unknown period. It has a three-window front with an advanced gable bay to the right and a central porch, believed to be a later addition. The windows are mostly paired, horned sash windows. A swept roof covers the porch, and a bay window is on the right gable end. A parallel brick range extends to the rear. A low, covered passage connects Craig Menai to the chapel, providing access to a small courtyard with a semicircular arched, gated opening covered by a roof hood. A two-story accommodation range runs north-south at the rear, connecting Craig Menai to the chapel’s west gable and incorporating swept roofs. A later three-window extension at the right end links with a 1950s two-story and attic range; this later range features paired, horned sash windows and an advanced central bay.

The most significant building is the chapel, designed in the stylistic tradition of W R Lethaby and E S Prior. It is a single-story structure characterized by tall lancet windows and low, gabled buttresses. The chapel consists of a three-bay nave and a narrower one-bay chancel, with a diagonally set pyramidal roof featuring gable ends to the north, south, and east. A small bellcote is located on the north side, and a simple crucifix finial adorns the roof. Grouped lancets are positioned at the centers of both sides. A round-arched doorway with a studded door is located towards the east end of the south side. The main entrance is broader and modern, situated at the end of the side passage, bridged by acutely pointed strainer arches springing from ramped buttresses built into the rubble boundary wall.

The chapel’s interior, originally white painted brick, was altered in 1978 with the removal of a screen and stone altar, and subsequently refurbished. The bays are divided by tall, low, acutely pointed arches, featuring dentilled bands. An organ gallery and lobby are situated at the west end. The chancel roof decoration, featuring trails and sunbursts on a trellised background, was a donation from the architect. The chapel also has two arched niches containing wooden statues and a vestry on the north side.