Capel Soar

This is a Wesleyan chapel, built in 1839 and extended in 1863. It is aligned roughly north-west to south-east, with the main entrance in the south-east gable. The chapel is constructed of mortared rubble masonry, with a slate roof featuring tiled coping and projecting eaves and verges. The entrance porch has slate and grit-rendered elevations. The south-east gable has two gabled porches, each with a double boarded door set beneath a round-arched overlight. A railed enclosure sits between the porches, and above are two round-headed sash windows with 24 panes, voussoir detailing, slate sills, and a datestone reading “SOAR / Capel y Trefnyddi on / Wesleyaidd adeiladwydd / 1839 / A helaethwyd / 1863”. The opposite gable features four similar windows, and the side walls have matching windows on the ground floor, over three bays. First-floor windows are 16-pane, horned sashes. A single-storey vestry is attached to the north corner of the chapel. It has its own entrance through a porch in the south-east angle, with two windows in the south-east wall and one in the north-west wall; these are large-paned sashes with margin panes.

Inside, each entrance leads to a small vestibule, with gallery steps providing access to the walls and the chapel itself. The chapel contains three ranks of pews, slightly angled to the rear (south-east), with a “set fawr” (a formal seating area) and a pulpit situated in the north-west corner, opposite the entrance. The "set fawr" has side entrances and a projecting front, with chamfered newels to the angles and pierced, floriate detail in the top panels beneath a raking rail. The pulpit has side entrances leading up six steps, shaped newel posts, alternate tall and short balusters, and a moulded rail. The front of the pulpit has a shaped coping above pierced facing panels that project outwards over a panelled plinth. The walls feature ashlar scoring and tongue-and-groove panelling in the lower section. Behind the pulpit is a moulded plaster panel displaying three trefoils, set beneath a corbelled, moulded pediment with shaped finials. The gallery has a rounded end to the south-east and is supported by iron columns with shaped brackets and corbelled bases. The gallery’s facing panels display diamond motifs with pierced decoration. The ceiling has deeply recessed panels separated by moulded dividers; the central panels are diamond-shaped and surrounded by moulded detailing, each with a moulded, floriate ventilator.