Monmouth Baptist Church

Cadw's description

Location

In the centre of Monmouth, on east side of Monk Street, directly opposite the Church of St. Mary.

History

Early C20 Gothic chapel built in 1906-7 (foundation stone) and designed by Benjamin Lawrence of Newport.

Exterior

Rock-faced red sandstone with Bath limestone ashlar dressings, Welsh slate roofs. Mixed Gothic style. Gablefront has (left to right): bell tower; large centre gable with projecting two-storey porch; short end-bay with corner pier. Slender octagonal bell tower has sheer vertical walls to belfry; ground-level 1-light window, with rounded trefoil window above. Ashlar belfry has tall louvred ogee-arched openings; engaged columns at angles support moulded architrave; roof oversails at eaves and has decorative iron finial. Gable-front (to right) has gabled 2-storey porch (with entrance steps to north); tall plinth, ashlar buttresses with offsets, ashlar kneelered coping, modern doors. Gable carries semi-circular arched panel and shield inscribed in raised letters BAPTIST CHURCH 1906. Below are 2 lancets separated by engaged column and 3 badly eroded foundation tablets in wall above plinth. Behind porch, centre gable is buttressed and has big Perpendicular style window of 5 cinquefoiled lights with tracery incorporating large multifoil circular window in head. Upper gable has kneelered coping; pair of small trefoil headed windows set between ashlar string courses. End-bay (to right) is narrow with lancet below and single-light trefoil window above; octagonal corner pier rises in two stages with moulded ashlar coping. Gabled transepts to side elevations project only slightly. Side elevations have quatrefoil and cinquefoil headed windows separated by brick buttresses and camber-headed basement windows with stone voussoirs – one converted to door to lift. The left elevation is partially attached to the Manse and the right elevation has iron railings and reset gate separating it from the (former) Working Men's Institute. Rear elevation not seen, but brick vestry at rear south, reached by steps.

Interior

Modern entrance lobby. Lobby doors left and right lead to main chapel. Large open space, without galleries. 5 bays. Complex arch-braced hammer-beam roof rises in two stages to upper collar. Wall posts carried on shaped corbels. Baluster-like posts rise between upper collar and ceiling, also between the upper arch-braces and the principal rafters. Interior carefully refurbished with modern seating and raised platform with contemporary pulpit, utilising the lozenge panelled front pine section of the original pulpit.

Pews have close-boarded backs and shaped ends, of which two samples remain at the rear. Back of pulpit enclosure boarded. Raised panelling behind pulpit with broken pediment supported on panelled pilasters, pyramid-shaped angle blocks. Organ installed in 1933. Wheelock memorial stone and reset monument to Rev Reynold Rogers on north wall; obelisk and urn mounted on rectangular tablet with curved apron. Bronze Brace memorial plaque on east wall. Tiled baptismal font beneath floorboards. Meeting rooms and kitchen in basement.

Reason for designation

Included for its special interest as an good example of a post-1905 revival Gothic chapel in the Monmouth town centre and for its group value with neighbouring listed buildings.