Capel Caersalem

Cadw's description

Location

Set back from the street of terraced houses behind forecourt railings.

History

Caersalem was founded as a Baptist Chapel in the early C19. In 1832, when the cause was said to have been in difficult financial straits, Christmas Evans became its minister. Christmas Evans (1766-1813) was a charismatic preacher and was regarded as one of 'the three giants of the Welsh pulpit'. He was undertaking a preaching tour of S Wales, partly to raise money for Caersalem, when he died at Swansea in 1838. The original Caersalem Baptist Chapel, in which Christmas Evans preached, is shown on the 1834 and 1852 town maps. The present chapel is a rebuilding during the third quarter of the C19 and faces Garnon Street, which had not been laid out when the original chapel was built.

Exterior

A 3-bay Italianate chapel of scribed stucco gable-end front with painted tooled stone dressings, slate roof behind a coped gable on moulded kneelers and apex gabled finial with sunk circles. The central bay has approach steps to flanking gabled porches with coped gables. These have round-headed 2-light windows facing the front in a roll-moulded surrounds and set within a chevron-moulded arch on stiff-leaf capitals. Quatrefoil windows are in the gables. The inner sides of the porches have panelled doors, and between them is an added glazed lean-to roof above a pair of 2-light mullioned windows. An upper tier of gallery windows has, in the central bay, a pair of 2-light windows with Italianate tracery, and a quatrefoil tracery light with keyed moulded surround that is continuous as a hood mould over the outer windows. The outer bays have narrower round-headed windows.

The side and rear are pebble-dashed. The 5-window L side wall has 2-light gallery windows with Italianate tracery, while below are two 3-light windows and replaced basement windows. The rear gable end has 2-light Italianate windows upper R and L, above a ledge, with plain windows below. A central shallow and narrow apse has a slate roof and 3 bullseye windows. The R side wall has similar gallery windows to the L side, but is roughcast and has a reduced corbelled stack set back from the rear end. The lower level is rubble stone with slate lintels to windows R and L of centre, while its basement retains small-pane sash windows.

Interior

The porches lead to vestibules with curved wooden stairs to the gallery, and bullseye windows with etched glass looking into the rear of the main chapel. In the main chapel a 3-sided raked gallery has polygonal posts, a projecting panelled front on cusped open brackets, and a clock by Roberts & Owen of Caernarfon. The ceiling has large square panels with narrower marginal panels, and is ornamented with subsidiary triangular relief panels with foliage decoration. The concave coving is on a moulded plaster cornice where the principal ribs stand on corbels. The late C19 set fawr and baptistery is enclosed by open arcading with square corner posts. The stairs and balustrade flanking the pulpit have similar detail. The pulpit has a bust of Christmas Evans. Behind the pulpit the shallow apse has a keyed richly moulded round arch on Corinthian pilasters, and a segmental-arched tympanum with plaster panels. Its 3 windows have stained glass depicting Alpha, Omega and a dove. Beneath the windows is a tablet commemorating a former minister. Pine pews have panelled doors. The basement hall has cast iron posts.

Reason for designation

Listed as a well-designed late C19 chapel retaining good external and internal detail, for its earlier association with the Rev Christmas Evans, and for its contribution to the historic townscape.