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Bethany Baptist Chapel, London Road, Neath

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NPRN11770
Map ReferenceSS79NE
Grid ReferenceSS7529797302
Unitary (Local) AuthorityNeath Port Talbot
Old CountyGlamorgan
CommunityNeath
Type Of SiteCHAPEL
PeriodPost Medieval
Description

Bethany Baptist Chapel was built as Welsh language alternative to Tabernacle Baptist chapel (NPRN 9449) on Water Street, after the English-language Baptist cause rejoined Tabernacle in 1855 and the 1859 Revival meant that bigger premises were required (the English cause later building Orchard Place, NPRN 9448).  The site on London Road was purchased for £250 and the chapel built in 1862-63 by the builder J C Rees to designs by Henry Thomas of Briton Ferry. The OS Town Plan of 1876 records the capacity as 800, though the RCCEORBWM records sittings as 370, with the Sunday School accommodation as 250. The value was recorded as £2,700.

The chapel is a gable entry building, the three bay façade built of squared rubble stone up to a pitched slate roof. The strongly Classical front is defined by a central entrance sheltered by a broad porch supported on Tuscan columns, above which is a Venetian window with marginal glazing. Tuscan pilasters divide the façade into three bays, the out bays lit by full-height round-headed windows with similar glazing. The corniced pediment contains a central rounderl, decorated with the form of a belt and with the inscription 'BETHANY BAPTIST CHAPEL'. 

The chapel is now known (since 1955?) as Bethania Capel y Bedyddwyr, reflecting the Welsh nature of its services. 

This chapel is Grade II Listed and was still in use in May 2018. 

S Fielding RCAHMW April 2019

Cadw Listing Description 11799