Open Doors 2014: Come and find out more about our chapels!

Seion Chapel , Aberystwyth, NPRN: 7149.

 Bethel Chapel , Aberystwyth, NPRN: 7147. 
The flamboyant facades of the Baker Street chapels remain impressive over 100 years after construction.

As part of Open Doors 2014, on 20 September the Royal Commission in Aberystwyth will be opening its doors for a chapels’ history day. The day will involve talks by leading experts, the display of rare archive material, and the opportunity to discover more about our database of over 6000 chapels, and the exciting partnership project between the Royal Commission and Addoldai Cymru. At 1.30pm and 2pm there will also be the opportunity to join guided tours of some of Aberystwyth’s finest historic chapels. Led by a chapels expert from the Royal Commission, each tour will start from outside The English Baptist Chapel, Alfred Place, and will take between 1½ and 2 hours. The tours will conclude with tea, cake and biscuits at St Paul’s Methodist Centre, Queens Road, Aberystwyth. For further information and booking, please contact nicola.roberts@rcahmw.gov.uk, tel: 01970 621200.

First held in France in 1984, Open Doors is part of European Heritage Days, which take place across Europe every year in September and is organised in Wales by Cadw. It is an annual celebration,  which promotes architecture and the built heritage to as wide an audience as possible  by opening up buildings not normally open to the public, and by offering free entry to those sites that usually charge for entry.

'Open Doors is a national celebration of our heritage, and an excellent opportunity for people who care about their local heritage to share their passion with visitors by showing them their little corner of Wales’s history.' Minister for Natural Resources, Culture and Sport 2014


Subscribe to the Heritage of Wales News and sign up for the full feed RSS, just click this RSS button and subscribe!

Also find us on:
Twitter Hashtag: #RCAHMWales

Open Doors 2014: Come and find out more about chapels!

Hen Gapel, Llwynrhydowen, nprn:11594

Talks by leading experts, archival material, and the opportunity to discover more about the database of over 6000 chapels, and the exciting partnership project between the Royal Commission and Addoldai Cymru.

Hen Dŷ Cwrdd Unitarian Chapel, Trecynon, Aberdare, CF44 8NT.
6 September, 10am-12pm. Exhibition and talk by Stephen Hughes, “Chapels: The National Architecture of Wales”.

Yr Hen Gapel, Llwynrhydowen, Rhydowen, Llandysul, Ceredigion, SA44 4QB.
13 September, 3-6pm. Local choir and talk by Stephen Hughes, “Chapels: The National Architecture of Wales” Refreshments available from the Alltyrodyn Arms, Rhydowen.

Seion Chapel, Aberystwyth, nprn:7147

Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales, Plascrug, Aberystwyth, Ceredigion SY23 1NJ. 20 September, talks 11am -1pm, tours 1.30pm and 2pm. The afternoon tours of Aberystwyth’s historic chapels are limited to 15 people per tour. For further information and booking, please contact nicola.roberts@rcahmw.gov.uk, tel: 01970 621200. Tours will start at 1.30pm and 2pm and will meet outside The English Baptist Chapel, Alfred Place, Aberystwyth.

Subscribe to the Heritage of Wales News and sign up for the full feed RSS, just click this RSS button and subscribe!

Also find us on:
Twitter Hashtag: #RCAHMWales

Do you have any memories or information about Hen Dŷ Cwrdd Chapel Trecynon?

Drop in and share your memories with the Royal Commission and see what information we have. For more information about this community project contact Christine Moore or Susan Fielding by e-mail at susan.fielding@rcahmw.gov.uk or christine.moore@addoldaicymru.org or by telephone 07528491819


Subscribe to the Heritage of Wales News and sign up for the full feed RSS, just click this RSS button and subscribe!

Also find us on:
Twitter Hashtag: #RCAHMWales

A new virtual museum will tell the story of chapels in Wales!

Digital Dissent: The Story of Welsh Chapels
The Royal Commission and Addoldai Cymru (The Welsh Religious Buildings Trust) have recently been granted over £60,000 for the development of a virtual museum recounting the story of over 300 years of Nonconformity in Wales!

Visit Wales has awarded the funding (part of the Digital Tourism Framework Programme) as part of a larger project, supported by Heritage Lottery funding and Cadw grant aid. The project aims to restore and interpret Yr Hen Gapel, Llwynrhydowen, the famous Grade II* listed Unitarian chapel and the centre from which grew a remarkable group of Unitarian chapels in Dyffryn Teifi, Ceredigion. This was the area called Y Smotyn Du (The Black Spot) by some of their opponents.

Resources will include the creation of virtual access to chapels in the care of Addoldai Cymru through laser scanning, gigapixel photography and computer visualisation. It will also provide interpretative analysis and GIS mapping of the Royal Commission’s 6400 plus records of Nonconformist chapels across Wales via an interactive website.

This project will build on the long-running work of the Royal Commission, in conjunction with Addoldai Cymru and Capel, in highlighting the importance of chapels as a distinctive and iconic building type in Wales, which contributes significantly to both our urban and rural landscapes. Variety in chapel building ranges from the small and simple vernacular chapels, commonly associated with the Welsh countryside, to the grandiose architect-designed ‘show façades’ in our towns and cities, which are now recognised as being on a par with the other great public buildings of the later nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

Chapels are now one of the classes of buildings in Wales most at threat from redundancy. The Royal Commission’s chapels database holds a wealth of information on individual chapels, including denomination, dates, architects, language, and cost of construction. The database is supported by a programme of survey and photography, and there is an ever-increasing archive held within the National Monuments Record of Wales, with nearly 1300 digital images available on the Royal Commission’s online database, Coflein (www.coflein.gov.uk).

Bethania Welsh Baptist Chapel was originally built in 1832, and then rebuilt by the great chapel architect, William Beddoe, in 1908. NPRN: 13780.

Hen Dŷ Cwrdd Unitarian Chapel was built in 1751. Described as the Mother Church of Unitarianism in the Cynon valley, it was the first Nonconformist place of worship in the valley. Its most prominent minister was the Rev. Thomas Evans (Tomos Glyn Cothi), prolific author, imprisoned radical and friend of Iolo Morganwg. NPRN: 8941

The exciting new project will be working with local communities to hold survey training days, community history days, and a series of lectures.

Forthcoming events include:

Community history days: tell your stories and bring your photos!

Drop in and share your memories with staff from the Royal Commission, and discover what information we have about your chapel:

• Hen Dŷ Cwrdd, Trecynon: 11 June, 3─6pm at Mount Pleasant public house, Trecynon, Aberdare, CF44 8NG.
  
• Hen Gapel, Llwynrhydowen: 25 June, 2─7pm at Capel Llwynrhydowen, Pontsian, Llandysul, Ceredigion, SA44 4UB.
• Peniel, Tremadog: 10 July, 2─7pm at Capel Peniel, Tremadog, Porthmadog, Gwynedd, LL49 9PS.
• Bethania, Maesteg: 23 July, 2─7pm at Capel Bethania, Bethania Street, Maesteg CF34 9EX.

Open Doors: this year there will be three Royal Commission and Addoldai Cymru Open Doors partnership events.

• Hen Dŷ Cwrdd Unitarian Chapel, Trecynon, Aberdare, CF44 8NT, 6 September. A display of hand-drawn architectural drawings of Aberdare chapels by Mr William King and an opportunity to view the oldest Nonconformist chapel in the Cynon valley from 10am-12pm. There will also be a talk by Royal Commission chapel’s expert, Stephen Hughes, “Chapels: The National Architecture of Wales”.

•  Yr Hen Gapel, Llwynrhydowen, Rhydowen, Llandysul, Ceredigion, SA44 4QB, September 13. Talk by Royal Commission chapels expert, Stephen Hughes, “Chapels: The National Architecture of Wales” and local choir from 3-6pm; refreshments available from the Alltyrodyn Arms, Rhydowen. 

• Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales, Crown Building, Plascrug, Aberystwyth, Ceredigion SY23 1NJ, 20 September. Talks 11am -1pm, tours 1.30pm and 2pm. Come and find out more about the chapel architecture of Wales. On 20 September, the Royal Commission is opening its doors for a chapels’ history day. There will be talks by leading experts, rich archival material on display, and the opportunity to discover more about the database of over 6000 chapels and the exciting partnership project between the Royal Commission and Addoldai Cymru. The afternoon tours of Aberystwyth’s historic chapels are limited to 15 people per tour. For further information and booking, please contact nicola.roberts@rcahmw.gov.uk , tel: 01970 621200. Tours will start at 1.30pm and 2pm and will meet outside The English Baptist Chapel, Alfred Place, Aberystwyth.

Subscribe to the Heritage of Wales News and sign up for the full feed RSS, just click this RSS button and subscribe!

Also find us on:
Twitter Hashtag: #RCAHMWales

The Nash Restoration at St David’s Cathedral

St David’s Cathedral, Pembrokeshire.

Event Date: 1 November 2013, 19:30
Location: Haverfordwest

Architectural historian, Richard Suggett will be giving a illustrated talk on “John Nash and the restoration of St David’s Cathedral” at 7.30pm Friday, 1 November 2013 to Pembrokeshire Historical Society at the Picton Centre, Haverfordwest. The lecture will look at the somewhat rackety world of Georgian building and the career of John Nash, the prince regent’s architect, in particular. John Nash tried to rebuild his career in Carmarthen after bankruptcy and a strange divorce in London. The lecture will explore some of Nash’s little-known houses and public buildings built in west Wales in 1790s. The challenge of stabilising the west front of St David’s Cathedral was a turning point in Nash’s career. Success helped turn Nash into an architect of national reputation.

Subscribe to the Heritage of Wales News and sign up for the full feed RSS, just click this RSS button and subscribe!

Also find us on:
Twitter Hashtag: #RCAHMWales

Misericords at St David’s

St David’s Cathedral, Pembrokeshire.NPRN: 306   DI2008_1029

St David’s Cathedral in Pembrokeshire is considered the holiest site in Wales. It stands on the site of a sixth-century monastery founded by St David, whose relics were kept in the Cathedral until the reformation when they were confiscated along with the relics of Justinian. The Cathedral itself is an iconic building, but while the eyes of visitors are often drawn upwards to its impressive nave ceiling and stonework, some of the delightful details of St David’s Cathedral can be overlooked.

Misericords are seats usually found in the quire of a church or cathedral, designed to fold away when not in use. The underside of the seat has a small shelf that a user can lean against to reduce discomfort during long periods of standing during services. Their name is derived from the Latin ‘misericordia’, meaning mercy. As a result, they are sometimes known as ‘mercy seats’ or ‘pity seats’. As with much woodwork in churches and cathedrals, misericords are often skilfully carved, showing a wide variety of subjects.

Each of the misericords in St David’s Cathedral were carved from a single block of oak. The hidden position of misericords freed craftsman from the constraints of traditional ecclesiastical art and allowed them to be freer in their work. They were inspired by bestiaries, fables and folk tales and were often rather irreverent! The images below show some of the misericords that can be seen in the quire at St David’s:

Misericords were used my members of the clergy to provide respite during long services. The words painted above each one refer to the name and/or office of the person using them at a particular time.
NPRN: 306   DI2012_2607

This misericord shows pilgrims in a boat, and was taken by Mrs. Trenchard Cox in 1948. NPRN: 306   DI2008_0016

A misericord showing a ‘ship’s carpenter’, also taken in 1948.
NPRN: 306   DI2008_0162

Faces like this one were popular subjects of misericords.
NPRN: 306   DI2012_2603

Fantastic beasts such as this one were often inspired by medieval bestiaries.
NPRN: 306   DI2012_2604

Subscribe to the Heritage of Wales News and sign up for the full feed RSS, just click this RSS button and subscribe!

Also find us on:
Twitter Hashtag: #RCAHMWales

The Adoration of the Magi

The west window at St. Deiniol’s Church in Hawarden, Flintshire, showing the Adoration of the Magi.
DI2005_0594, NPRN 310514

This window is at St Deiniol’s Chuch in Hawarden, Flintshire. It depicts the Adoration of the Magi, and was designed by Sir Edward Burne-Jones (1833 – 98).

Detail of the window,
showing the Virgin Mary,
the infant Jesus and angels.
DI2005_0594, NPRN 310514

Burne-Jones was a British artist and designer who was heavily involved with the renaissance of stained glass art in Britain in the late nineteenth century. He was also a founding partner of the hugely influential decorative arts company Morris, Marshall, Faulkner & Co. in 1861, alongside William Morris, Charles Faulkner, Peter Paul Marshall, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, Ford Madox Brown and Phillip Webb. The company reformed as Morris & Co. in 1875, and many of its designs are still in use in decorative furnishings of homes today.

This window is characteristic of the stained glass designs produced by Burne-Jones: his mastery of drapery, his flowing tracery and the host of angels in attendance here are typical of his style.

Detail of the window, showing the Magi bringing gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh.
DI2005_0594, NPRN 310514

Subscribe to the Heritage of Wales News and sign up for the full feed RSS, just click this RSS button and subscribe!

Also find us on:
Twitter Hashtag: #RCAHMWales

IfA/HLF Workplace Learning Bursary in Historic Building Survey and Interpretation

Lon Swan Chapel, Denbighshire
DS2009_155_002   NPRN 7565 - © Crown Copyright RCAHMW

Hello to all the Royal Commission’s blog readers, my name is Ross Cook and I will be working at the Commission for the next year as part of an IfA/HLF Workplace Learning Bursary in Historic Building Survey and Interpretation. The aim of this placement is to equip me with the skills and expertise needed to work with historic buildings in the archaeological and heritage sectors, something I’ve always wanted to do and something I wish to pursue as a career.

It has been almost four weeks since the placement started, and in this time I’ve met all of the Commission staff, attended the staff Away Day, been learning about the work of the Commission and the data systems it uses. I’ve also been out on fieldwork in Denbigh with Buildings Investigator Susan Fielding, carrying our survey of sites for the forthcoming publication on Historic Denbigh.  Here I got to grips with using the Total Station and TheoLT in the survey of two chapels in the town, Lon Swan and Capel Mawr, and undertook a sketch survey of an ‘at risk’ industrial complex (smithy and later butchers) on Love Lane. A morning was also spent with Royal Commission photographer Iain Wright, photographing St Mary’s Church in the town, following which I was able to work-shadow Investigator Richard Suggett during his reconnaissance visits to possible tree-ring dating sites with Dan Miles from the Oxford Dendrochronology Laboratory.  I’m now busy processing lots of data, producing illustrations and carrying out research following on from this fieldwork.

Subscribe to the Heritage of Wales News and sign up for the full feed RSS, just click this RSS button and subscribe!

Also find us on:
Twitter Hashtag: #RCAHMWales