Bethania Capel y Bedyddwyr (Welsh Baptist Chapel) is a Grade II listed building in the Bridgend local planning authority area, Wales. First listed on 30 July 1997. Chapel.
Bethania Capel y Bedyddwyr (Welsh Baptist Chapel)
- WRENN ID
- carved-lime-storm
- Grade
- II
- Local Planning Authority
- Bridgend
- Constituency
- Rhondda and Ogmore MP: Chris Bryant (Lab)
- Country
- Wales
- Date first listed
- 30 July 1997
- Type
- Chapel
- Address
- Bethania Capel y Bedyddwyr (Welsh Baptist Chapel), Blaengarw, Garw Valley
- OS grid reference
- SS 902 930
- Coordinates
- 51.62545, -3.58654
- Source
- Cadw listing
Description
This is a late Gothic style Welsh Baptist Chapel, built in the 18th century. It is intended for conversion into a community centre. The chapel is constructed of coursed, rock-faced sandstone with generous ashlar dressings, with the sides and rear rendered and incorporating yellow brick dressings. The roof is covered in Welsh slate, with terracotta ridge tiles and a ridge ventilator. The front gable has two storeys, while the rear has three, with a central bay flanked by two slightly recessed, five-sided bays with hipped roofs. Attached polygonal embattled turrets rise to the apex of the central bay, embellished with moulded string courses, and a large, wide, first-floor window of five lights with cusped tracery dominates this section. Above the window is an inscription band and plaque with a narrow light at the apex. The ground floor features a main entrance with multiple mouldings leading to a pointed arch, flanked by a shallow canopywork panel of three blind arcades and a single light on each side; an arched, double-boarded door has decorative hinges. Dedication stones are positioned below the sill band, with a smaller row above the plinth. The side bays have similar, narrower arched entrances, with steps leading up to the right, and square-headed doors featuring enriched tympanums. Three-light, square-headed staircase windows with decorative heads are located above, mirroring the glazing of the central bay. The turrets abut the pavement, with the bays separated by iron railings and gates. The side elevation, with five bays, has similar quarry glazing to the front windows, although some are broken or blocked.
The interior retains some fittings, though they are in a neglected and occasionally damaged or unsafe condition. Features include a curved ceiling with four roses, moulded ribs, corbels, and a cornice, a gallery supported by seven cast iron columns (a high rear gallery has had its fronts removed), curved pews, a removed “set fawr” (pulpit), a dismantled organ, and a moulded reredos arch to a recess. A basement hall displays an unusual aisled layout supported by cast iron columns.
Local climate
Bethania Capel y Bedyddwyr (Welsh Baptist Chapel) sits in one of the wettest parts of the UK, with an average of 1,200 mm of rain a year. This makes it wetter than 91% of listed buildings in the UK. Its exposure to wind-driven rain is greater than that of 93% of listed buildings.
It experiences an average of 29 freeze-thaw cycles a year, fewer than 68% of listed buildings. Of these, 12 follow at least 1 mm of rain in the preceding 48 hours. Average temperatures at this location have risen by 0.3°C per decade since 1991.
Averages for 1991–2020; temperature trend 1991–2025. Figures describe the wider area (a grid cell of roughly 10 km), not the individual site. Contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information 2026.
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- No EPC on record for this property
- No sale records on file
- No related consent applications matched
- Detailed attributes — period, style, materials, features
- Flood risk assessment
- Radon risk assessment
- Weather exposure and heating demand — rain and frost month by month and year by year, wind direction, solar and humidity
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