Chapel of St Michael’s College (St Padarn’s Institute)

The Chapel of St Michael’s College (St Padarn’s Institute) is a Grade I listed building featuring a simple asymmetrical rectangular form with subtly angled walls on the liturgical east and west sides. Constructed from local stone rubble, it has a slate roof that is mostly hidden from view. The side walls are punctuated by numerous small and very small rectangular windows, arranged in a seemingly random yet deliberate pattern, with lightly expressed reinforced concrete frames providing structural support. The plain recessed entrance is located at the liturgical west end, set under an asymmetrical gable on a canted wall, topped with a metal figure of St. Michael overcoming the devil, created by Frank Roper. The overall appearance is simple and almost vernacular, resembling a barn more than a traditional church.

Inside, the chapel features white plastered walls and ceiling, with coved transitions between the walls and ceiling to avoid sharp angles, and subtly angled corners. Light enters through the grid of small windows on the right side. The wall behind the altar is plain and white, except for a small crucifix by Mervyn Merchant, with a sculptured Christ in Majesty by Harry Stammers suspended above the altar. The altar, designed by G F Bodley, has been retained from an earlier chapel. The black pews and elongated staff stalls against a curving screen at the liturgical west end, along with other fittings, are by Pace, except for some seats that survived the bombing of the earlier chapel. The chapel is noted in the Buildings of Wales as having a truly moving interior, where the architect has created a numinous space without evoking traditional church architecture.