Pendref Chapel including forecourt walls & railings

Pendref Chapel

An unusual bow-fronted chapel with classical-style detail, constructed in 1827 and renovated in 1875. The building has a symmetrical 2-storey, 3-bay front constructed of large blocks of coursed limestone, with a shallow hipped slate roof set back behind parapets. The central bay is slightly advanced, while the outer bays are bowed and swept back to angles, forming end piers. Round-arched windows with plain stone surrounds contain margin-glazed small-pane sashes with radial glazing.

A central portico features Tuscan columns supporting an entablature that bears a raised pedimented tablet inscribed 'Built 1827 / Renovated 1875'. Within the portico, a round-arched stone doorcase contains a wooden door of 4 leaves, each with 4 moulded panels, beneath a radial fanlight. A moulded string course runs to the parapets, with a wide panel above the central bay (formerly reading 'Congregational') crowned by a triangular pediment. Balustraded parapets to the outer bays feature panelled end piers, which formerly supported tall urns with finials, now freestanding on the ground.

The east and west sides are of rubble stone with 3 windows to the ground floor and 2 windows to the upper storey, all with round-arched stone voussoir heads matching the front elevation. The rear has 2 similar windows at gallery level lighting the pulpit. Adjoining beneath is a single-storey school-room and vestry constructed of brick (mainly rendered) under a slate roof, projecting to the west. Its north-facing entrance contains double panelled doors beneath a segmental head, with a lateral stack at the west end. The south elevation has 3 stepped windows beneath a wide gable, top-hung with small-pane glazing. A west projection features a segmental-arched door and window.

The chapel stands set back behind forecourt walls and railings. Square gate piers of large blocks of coursed dressed stone with chamfered angles are topped with moulded pyramidal capstones bearing ball finials. Similar flanking walls feature pecked chamfered stone copings on a plinth that increases in height towards the east as the ground falls. Narrow end piers with triangular heads stand against adjacent buildings. The walls support cast iron railings with scrollwork, and later cast iron double gates feature a lozenge frieze to the lock rail.

Interior

The entrance lobby has an encaustic tile floor with 2 canted doorways leading into the chapel, between which is a margin-glazed 4-pane window. The main chamber features a U-shaped gallery with wood-panelled front on a moulded dentilled bressumer, supported on 6 slender cast iron columns. A fine decorative plaster ceiling displays ornate foliate ceiling roses—a very large rose at the centre and roses set in large square panels to each corner—with a moulded ceiling cornice and painted decoration beneath. Three tiers of pews with moulded bench ends occupy the chamber, with similar pews to the raked gallery. Wainscot panelling lines the walls. Opposite the entrance stands a wood-panelled Set Fawr with pierced decoration and doorways to the canted angles. An octagonal-fronted wooden pulpit, also with pierced decoration, flanks steps with turned balusters and round newels. Behind the pulpit is a recess with an open triangular pediment supported on scrolled decorative brackets, flanked by panelled doors. The school-room to the rear has a canted ceiling.