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Church House

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NPRN23462
Map ReferenceSJ07SW
Grid ReferenceSJ0380974316
Unitary (Local) AuthorityDenbighshire
Old CountyFlintshire
CommunitySt Asaph
Type Of SiteCHURCH HALL
PeriodPost Medieval
Description
The Church House on St Asaph High Street was designed by Messrs Douglas and Minshull, Chester, and built by Messrs T Williams and Sons, Altrincham. The foundation stone was laid in a ceremony on 24 October 1908 by Mary Laidley Edwards, wife of the Bishop A. G. Edwards. The Church House was funded through benefices and public collection, including two bazaars in 1908 and 1909, the latter of which was held concurrent with the opening and collected £260 9s 8d over two days. The land was given by the Ecclesiastical Commissioners together with enough to expand beyond the original building plans if warranted at a later date. The building was projected to be completed by the end of January 1909, but it was instead opened on 21 July 1909. Internally, Church House had a large classroom, a kitchen, lavatories, and a heating chamber on the ground floor. On the first floor was a hall big enough to seat 400 with a raised stage large enough to seat fifty at the end. At the rear, there were double retiring rooms separated by folding doors so that the space could be combined if needed. The building had hydraulic central heating with radiators throughout and gas lighting. The building was entered though a wrought-iron gate leading to an arched doorway on the east side. The hall was reached through a vestibule with a flight of stairs. The building faces south to the street. The front is built of uncoursed stones and dressed with Cefn stone. The central feature of the facade is a five-light mullioned and tracered window which is enclosed in a four-corner arch which extends to the gable with coping and finial. Under this window, the name `Church House? was carved. Across the first story there are four pairs of square mullioned windows and across the ground floor are three square windows, one on the west and two in the centre with no window over the eastern entrance vestibule. Behind the stone facade, the building is built of brick, like the neighbouring buildings.

(Sources: Welsh Newspapers Online: Denbighshire Free Press, 15.08.1908; Welsh Coast Pioneer, 29.10.1908; Rhyl Journal, 24.07.1909)
A.N. Coward, RCAHMW, 18.04.2018