History

Baptist chapel first built 1797, rebuilt 1840-1, remodelled 1904, the interior detail typical of the work of J H Morgan of Carmarthen.

Exterior

Chapel, unpainted stucco with slate hipped roof, in grey slates, with flat eaves. Two-storey, 3-window front of small arched windows with Florentine timber tracery (2-light and roundel) of 1904 and bead-moulded surrounds. Centre arched doorway with panelled double door and leaded crescent overlight, also 1904. Leaded glazing. Raised plinth, channelled angle piers. Date plaque over door, 'Bethel Baptist Chapel Built 1797 Rebuilt 1840 Renovated 1904'. Rendered end walls. W wall plaque to Rev William Thomas d1813 'the first Unitarian Minister of this congregation'. Inscribed beneath: 'Believing one true living God/ And Christ his Son his paths to tred/ General Baptist I preferred/ In peace I deid I have not err'd'. Rubble stone rear with 2 arched windows, stone voussoirs and square impost blocks. Similar Florentine tracery.
Rear NE whitewashed rubble stone vestry range with N end stack. Half-gable to S with steps up to door. E side has basement door to right and C20 window first floor centre. Blank rear wall

Interior

Interior of 1904 with the exception of the 5 iron columns with leaf capitals that support the 3-sided gallery, which are C19. Panelled ceiling. Gallery with gently curved main front, timber, with plain cornice, small horizontal panels under open panels with short turned balusters. Plain pulpit with steps up each side, ball finials, shaped balusters and shallow-curved front, panelled below small square balusters. Two brass oil lamps. Pews in 3 blocks, curved, and some inward facing pews each side of pulpit. Raked curved gallery pews. Lobby has 3-light leaded window with coloured glass and double doors each side. Tiled floor and 4-panel doors on gallery stairs.

Reasons for Listing

Included as a well-preserved hipped-roof chapel of c1840, remodelled in 1904 with attractive interior.

External Links

• Cadwr Listing
• Wikidata Q29499506

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

• 
  Oxfordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  London 4: North: North v. 4 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Northamptonshire: Buildings of England Series (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Sussex: East with Brighton and Hove (Buildings of England) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Surrey (The Buildings of England) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Oxfordshire: North and West (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)