Trefnyddion Bethania Calfinaidd

Cadw's description

Location

Situated mid-way along street between Tonypandy Square and St Andrew's church, at the north end of the community near the boundary with Llwynypia.

History

Calvinistic Methodist Chapel dated 1908, designed by R.S. Griffiths, at an original cost of £4500.

Exterior

Classical 3 bay gable facade with pediment treatment. Of rockfaced sandstone with liberal (painted) ashlar dressings including channelled pilaster strips and deep lettered and dated band across middle; Welsh slate roof with ridge cresting, ventilators and rear chimney. The gable has urn finial, bracket cornice and attic roundel, festooned below label. Small pane windows with leaded Art Nouveau coloured glass; the 3 central gallery windows are round headed and set within an ashlar pedimented frame incorporating cartouche with open bible, and tapered Ionic pilasters; square headed flanking windows with lugged architraves and enriched heavy bracketed segmental pediments. The end pilaster strips have Corinthian capitals. Ground floor has ashlar square headed entrance doorway with channelled jambs and festooned surround to keystone, pair of wide tripartite planked doors with overlights; square headed windows to either side over band of foundation stones. Bracket cornice and corner pilasters with Corinthian capitals wrap around the corner. Five bay cement rendered side elevations; round headed windows to gallery and square headed below, all margin glazed sashes with architraves; red brick dentilled cornice. Two storey transverse hall and vestry range at rear - similar detail; 3 window end elevation.

Interior

Similarly classical interior with 4 sided raked gallery supported on painted cast iron fluted columns with floral capitals and fronts of polished wood panels with contrasting dark wood details and delicately moulded plaster coving. Platform with elaborate pulpit, heavily carved balusters to stairs and set fawr; above an organ with painted pipes brought from Moriah Chapel Ynyshir 1983. Fine coved ceiling of 18 panels partly boarded and partly delicately moulded plaster with 1 large and 2 smaller roses; walls with moulded plaster window surrounds and Corinthian pilasters. Pews with vertical boarding in gallery and horizontal on ground floor. Vestibule with moulded cornice, panelled woodwork and small pane windows with coloured glass; coloured glass also in W window and upper lights of side margin glazing.

Reason for designation

Listed as an almost unaltered chapel with a richly furnished interior and as the major surviving work of the Tonypandy architect R.S. Griffiths.