Penuel Chapel

Penuel Chapel

This chapel, constructed in 1856 and extended in 1908, is a substantial nonconformist building with a distinctive tall gable-entry front flanked by lower staircase bays.

The front elevation is built of coursed rock-faced Pennant sandstone with narrow angle buttresses, a plinth, and slate roof. The centrepiece is a prominent gabled doorcase with moulded stone dressings and a large foliate finial. The doorway itself has a pointed arch with chamfered and hollow mouldings, topped by a hoodmould with large foliate end bosses. It is furnished with planked double doors and an overlight with vertical glazing bars. Small narrow lancet windows flank the doorway under similar hoodmoulds. Above these, a wide cornice displays the inscription "1856 Penuel Capel y Bedyddwyr 1908", with the wall slightly set back above it. A large gallery window with a pointed head contains three cinquefoiled lights with Perpendicular-style tracery. In the gable apex sits a small dressed stone pediment with narrow lancets and a large finial. The flanking bays are single-window and two-storey with crenellated parapets to the fronts and sides, topped by short heavy polygonal pinnacles rising from within the parapet angles. These bays have two-light windows: those to the upper storey feature trefoiled ogee-headed lancets under segmental heads, while those below have pointed heads.

The side walls are of rubble stone, two-storey with four windows. Windows have round heads and are irregularly positioned. Those on the south side have been replaced in UPVC; a pair to the left has red brick heads with an arch from an earlier yellow brick-headed window visible alongside. Two further windows with yellow brick heads remain to the right. A twentieth-century concrete lean-to with a door and two windows extends from below the left pair of upper windows. The north side retains its original 4-over-4-pane sashes with margin glazing, though arranged similarly. A string course runs along both sides.

The vestry is attached at right angles to the rear via a short linking range. It is single-storey, roughcast with an asbestos slate roof and a large catslide section to the west. Most windows are UPVC, though two original windows with Y-tracery are retained at the north end.

The interior dates to 1908. An entrance vestibule with half-lit side doors and a large window all feature Art Nouveau glass. Stairs lead left and right into the projecting staircase bays and up to the sides of the gallery, where round-headed doorways with high overlights provide access. A large three-sided gallery is supported on narrow cast iron columns with plain ringed capitals. The wooden gallery front has recessed panels and a central clock, with seven tiers of pews behind and three tiers to the sides.

The front of the chapel features a segmental-headed arch containing the organ with wood panelling below. A small pulpit with curved sides and arched panels is reached by dog-leg stairs. A set fawr (chancel platform) with curved angles contains panels of open ironwork including columns and scrolls. Panelled half-lit doors on either side provide access to the vestry. Pews have plain bench ends. A pronounced moulded coving with a lower frieze runs around the space, with wood-panelled ceiling surround. Two large foliate ceiling roses in high relief ornament the ceiling. The gallery window, containing Art Nouveau glass, breaks through the ceiling coving.