Ebenezer Chapel

Ebenezer Chapel

This is a two-storey chapel with a gable-end facade, flanked by narrow staircase bays. The front elevation is constructed of snecked rock-faced stone, with side walls and rear of rubble stone, all beneath slate roofs. The building is distinguished by prominent pale stone quoins and dressings throughout.

The front elevation features a shallow full-width canted porch containing a pair of gabled doorways at the centre. Each doorway has a round-arched head with multiple orders of mouldings, the inner ones decorated with pronounced chevron ornament. These arches are supported on attached clustered shafts, with the central shafts shared between the pair and crowned with exuberant foliate capitals. Metal openwork gates fill the doorways, decorated with scrollwork, a band of circles at impost level, and a large cross. The gables have copings with foliate end bosses and large finials. Single round-headed windows flank each side of the entrance, with similar openings in each canted section. The porch is crowned by a dressed stone parapet featuring a band of recessed quatrefoils within circles, topped by a coping of round-arched stones.

Above the porch rises a large central round-headed window. This contains two inner round-arched openings and a roundel above, with the inner openings also featuring two lights and a roundel. The arches spring from shared ringed shafts with foliate imposts, which continue across the elevation as an impost band. The central window is flanked by single round-headed lights, each with a round stone panel above containing a blind quatrefoil. Dressed angle pilasters extend to gallery level, topped with foliated imposts that support a raised Lombard frieze along the gable verges. The gable is broken by a plain dressed string course, above which are three stepped round-headed louvres with continuous hoodmould, with a further string course at impost level. The narrow end bays each contain a single round-headed window at gallery level set within a tall recessed panel, above a short two-light window with shouldered heads. These side bays have parapets matching the porch style, with hipped roofs set back behind.

Partly indecipherable stone below the centre porch columns bears an inscription reading 'This Memorial was laid August .. 1880 by ...' (the remainder is indecipherable).

The two-storey side walls extend for six bays and feature two-light windows. Those on the lower storey have flat shouldered heads, whilst those above are plate traceried with round-headed lights and a small circle above. The wooden window frames have been replaced except for the lower south windows. On the south elevation, a late twentieth-century staircase turret replaces the east windows. To its left is a link corridor to a late twentieth-century vestry, constructed of pale snecked stone with a hipped roof. The lower left window is blocked with stone. The north side contains four windows to the upper storey and two windows below. The scar of the former vestry gable is visible to the left, within which remains a blocked round-headed window with yellow brick dressing. The east gable end bears a roundel at mid-level with pierced circular lights, above four single square-headed lights.

Inside the porch are spiral stone staircases to left and right, curving outwards towards the gallery. The porch has a groined vaulted plaster ceiling and two highly ornate doorways leading into the chapel, identical to the external doorways. These contain diagonally boarded doors. The vestibule contains a four-light window with trefoiled heads to each light and Art Nouveau glass, with flanking panelled doors leading into the chapel. A four-sided gallery sits on round columns with small foliate capitals. The panels contain iron fretwork with quatrefoils and crosses, above wooden planking. Six rows of curved pews occupy the rear.

The pulpit and straight flanking staircases were constructed as one unit. The pulpit front features three round open arches with cusps, with a further arch to each angled side. Below each arch is a frieze of open ironwork with scrolls and a large cross. The staircase fronts have plain round arches and small pierced circles in the spandrels. A large curved set of open panels rises above wooden planking, with a moulded handrail. Large double panelled doors behind the pulpit permit its removal during baptisms. Three banks of box pews feature curved bench ends, with wainscot panelling surmounted by a frieze of quatrefoils. One of the lower south windows has been converted to a door leading to the vestry. Moulded continuous rear arches to the upper side windows support the arched ceiling braces. These braces incorporate large foliate corbels, each of different design. The ceiling is panelled with six arched braces. Wooden fretwork ceiling roses, square and set at angle, run down the centre of the ceiling. Stained glass fills the east and west windows. Three stained glass windows on the north side are all memorials featuring Biblical scenes, dating to the later twentieth century. Two marble tablets on the south wall commemorate former ministers: one with swags and a bible to David Griffiths (died 1911), and the second to David Thomas (died 1864).