Capel Heol Dŵr, Carmarthen

Capel Heol Dŵr was a Calvanistic Methodist chapel in the town of Carmarthen, Carmarthenshire, Wales. The building dates from 1831 and is located at Water St, Carmarthen. It was designated as a Grade II listed building on 19 May 1981.

Capel Heol Dŵr
LocationWater Street, Carmarthen
CountryWales, United Kingdom
DenominationCalvinistic Methodist chapel
Architecture
Heritage designationGrade II
Designated19 May 1981
Architectural typeChapel
StyleEarly 19th century
Closed2016

Origins

Calvinistic Methodists were active in Carmarthen from around 1740, and a group met at a house in Goose Street (later known as St Catherine Street).[1] The key figure in the establishment of the cause at Water Street was Peter Williams, a native of the area who had been converted to Methodism in 1743 under the influence of George Whitfield.[1] Williams served a sa curate in several parishes but was refused ordination because of his Methodist sympathies. The first chapel was built in the garden of a house that he leased in Water Street.[1]

David Charles (1762-1834), brother of Thomas Charles of Bala was associated with the chapel, and was one of the eleven ministers ordained in 1811 against the wishes of the Anglican church, thus bringing the Calvinistic Methodist denomination in Wales into being.[1]

Description

Capel Heol Dŵr was therefore an early Methodist chapel, and the present building dates from 1831. The long-wall frontage has a pair of pedimented porches on Tuscan columns, each having a large arched window above. The interior has a five-sided gallery. The box pews are neatly fitted, radiating to match the gallery. There is a most unusual pulpit; this is shaped like a wine-glass with a curved flight of steps. A similar pulpit is to be found in the nearby Capel Heol Awst, Carmarthen which was built in 1826, but these pulpits are rare elsewhere having disappeared when alterations and enlargements were made to chapels. The ceilings are boarded and ribbed and have a large plaster rose. There is fine stained glass and several noteworthy monuments.[2] The chapel was refurbished in 1891 and again in 1922, when additions included a new stucco front, a new ceiling and a new organ bay at the middle of the front facade.[3]

The chapel was designated as a Grade II listed building on 19 May 1981, being an example of a fine "earlier C19 chapel with surviving interior fittings including gallery of 1831".[4] The Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales curates the archaeological, architectural and historic records for this church. These include digital photographs and colour transparencies of the exterior and interior of the building, from the Rosser Collection and the Robert Scourfield Collection.[3]

Later history

Three churches were established in later years as branches of Heol Dwr, namely Babell, Pensarn (1849); Zion, Carmarthen (1850) and Bethania, Carmarthen (1902).[1]

The Rev. J. Lewis was inducted as minister in 1871, with the congregation of two thousand people said to be present.[5]

In 1903, the Rev M.H. Jones of Abercynon was inducted as minister.[6] He remained for three years.

In 2016 it was announced that the chapel would close due to rising costs and a decreasing membership.[7] Broadcaster Huw Edwards has supported a campaign to maintain the building.[8] Like Heol Dwr, the causes at Zion and Bethania came to an end in 2014/15.

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References
  1. "Local Information Sheet 31: Carmarthen" (PDF). Capel. The Chapels Heritage Society. Retrieved 30 January 2017.
  2. Thomas Lloyd; Julian Orbach; Robert Scourfield (2006). Carmarthenshire and Ceredigion. Yale University Press. p. 136. ISBN 0-300-10179-1.
  3. "Capel Heol-y-Dwr Welsh Calvinistic Methodist Chapel, Carmarthen". Coflein. Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales. Retrieved 27 April 2016.
  4. "Capel Heol Dwr". British Listed Buildings. Retrieved 16 April 2016.
  5. "Carmarthen. Recognition Sercives at Water Street Chapel". Cambrian. T. Jenkins. 10 February 1871. p. 5. Retrieved 31 January 2017.
  6. "The New Pastor of Water-street Chapel, Carmarthen". Carmarthen Weekly Reporter. William Morgan Evans. 1 May 1903. p. 4. Retrieved 28 January 2017.
  7. "Historic Carmarthen chapel could close as costs rise and congregation falls". South Wales Evening Post. 16 July 2016. Retrieved 2 November 2016.
  8. "Newsman Huw Edwards visits Carmarthen over chapel's future". South Wales Evening Post. Retrieved 2 November 2016.

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