Bethania Chapel is a Grade II listed building in the Rhondda Cynon Taf local planning authority area, Wales. First listed on 10 January 1991. Chapel.

Bethania Chapel

WRENN ID
dim-spandrel-hazel
Grade
II
Local Planning Authority
Rhondda Cynon Taf
Constituency
Merthyr Tydfil and Aberdare MP: Gerald Jones (Lab)
Country
Wales
Date first listed
10 January 1991
Type
Chapel
Address
Bethania Chapel, Aberdare, Aberdare East, Rhondda Cynon Taff
OS grid reference
SO 002 024
Coordinates
51.71224, -3.44562
Source
Cadw listing

Also on this page: flood risk · radon risk · weather exposure · detailed attributes ↓

Description

Bethania Chapel is a 19th-century building featuring a three-bay gable front made of coursed rubble, complete with a plinth and quoins. It has a slate roof and a cornice with brackets. At the top, there is a roundel above a giant arched central recess, which is the first of its kind on a chapel façade. This recess is adorned with voussoirs and contains a date plaque above a tripartite window, which has oculi over each square-headed small pane light. The window features keystones, imposts, linked labels, and an overall sill. Below, there is a round arched entrance with an impost band, double panelled doors, an architrave, a chevron arched band, and a carved stone tympanum symbolizing Evangelism. Small flanking lobby windows are present, while the outer bays have tall round arched sash windows with marginal glazing bars and a stringcourse at mid-rail level. The façade continues around the corners and steps forward with bull-nosed quoins. The side elevations consist of four bays with sash windows, round arched over square-headed.

At the rear, off-centre, is the Ysgoldy hall, which is set into the slope. This two-storey structure has a four-window, cement-rendered gabled front with tapered end pilasters and a slate roof. The chapel front is mirrored in the recessed giant arch at the centre, which contains two windows. All windows are sashes, round arched over square-headed, with labels on the first floor. There is a door to the right and the Chapel House beyond.

Inside the chapel, there is a ceiling rose in the lobby and turned balusters leading to the gallery stairs. The chapel retains an old platform with a set fawr against the front wall. The ceiling features three large panels with roses, surrounded by bosses on the ribs and a dentil cornice. The raked gallery corner is supported by fluted cast iron columns with palm-like capitals and a collar band with a similar leafy pattern. The panelled gallery front includes pilasters with a strapwork design. The organ is positioned over the set fawr with arched panelling. The Ysgoldy hall has a canted ceiling with a large central rose and smaller ones at the ends.

Local climate

Bethania Chapel sits in one of the wettest parts of the UK, with an average of 1,210 mm of rain a year. This makes it wetter than 92% of listed buildings in the UK. Its exposure to wind-driven rain is greater than that of 87% of listed buildings.

It experiences an average of 44 freeze-thaw cycles a year, more than 85% of listed buildings. Of these, 22 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.

More on this building

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