Crwys Road English Wesleyan Methodist Chapel was opened in November 1890, replacing the earlier school chapel of 1882 on the immediately adjacent site (NPRN 506133) which by this time had 300 members and 600 scholars in the Sunday School.
The chapel was designed by the same architect, J P Jones, and the contractors were Messrs Charles Shepherd and Sons, Roath. A full description was given in the report on opening:
“The new chapel has been built to meet the requirements of a steadily growing church, and it is provided with all the accessories that so much tend to increase the usefulness and influence of a religious centre. It stands upon a fine elevation, well back from the street, the main entrances being approached by wide flights of steps. It is built of local grey stone with extensive Bath stone dressings and ornamental work, and the facade has a strikingly substantial appearance. The interior is light and cheerful, nearly all the fittings being of pitch pine. A lofty clerestory supported by handsome arches and massive iron columns, with Corinthian capitals, lends dignity to the structure. A gallery for the congregation runs round three sides of the building, while in rear of the pulpit, in a deep recess, arched in the form of a chancel, provision is made for the members of the choir. A portion of this space will, no doubt, in time be occupied by an organ. The pulpit is in the form of a platform, being simply protected by a mahogany railing. It is provided with a light movable book desk. Behind the pulpit and under the choir gallery are the vestries. The chapel is well lighted, and it has been finished with the utmost care in every detail. It is supplied with a powerful heating apparatus on Grundy's hot air system. Underneath the building there is a spacious schoolroom, with rooms for infant classes, Bible classes, etc., and these will all shortly be in use for the many agencies connected with the Church. The chapel has been erected from the designs of Mr J. P. Jones, architect, of Cardiff, and the contract was entrusted to Messrs Charles Shepherd and Sons, builders, Roath. Both architect and builder have carried out their work most successfully. The total cost of the schools and chapel has been about £6,200, the actual expenditure incurred over the latter being £4,300. Accommodation is provided for 850 worshippers. It must be a source great satisfaction to the members of the Church to know that nearly the whole of that large sum has been raised. While they have contributed liberally themselves, they have received generous assistance from outside, with the result that when another £900 has been subscribed they will be able to meet the connexional requirements, when the building will be free of debt. Among gifts which have been received may be mentioned the oak communion table, chairs, and ottomans (by Messrs Shepherd and Sons), the communion service (by Mr Kernick), and the books for the pulpit (by Mr E. Mosey).” (1)
In 1897 a two-day bazaar was held in the schoolroom to raise funds to pay off the remaining £500 debt on the chapel. (2)
The Royal Commission on the Church of England and Other Religious Buildings of Wales and Monmouthshire in 1904 recorded the chapel as seating 900, the Sunday School 1,276, and all valued at £6,955. (3)
In 1910 the school chapel complex to the rear was substantially extended and renovated to include an infant’s room, ladies parlour, church parlour, kitchens etc… (4)
The chapel is built in a Classical style, of similar stonework to the rear school chapel with red and yellow brick string courses. The facade to Crwys Road consists of a wider central bay, with two corner towers containing the gallery stairs, all three with gable pediments – the stair towers with similar pediments to the side elevations. The original entrance has been obscured by a turn of the 21st century porch, above which is an ashlar stringcourse and two round-headed windows to the first floor. A Bath stone cornice sits below a circular window with stepped keystones in the pediment. The outer bays each have stone steps up to a doorway with strongly accented dressings, directly accessing the gallery stairs. The side elevations of the stair towers have small windows rising with the stairs, while the first floor is lit by further round-headed windows to the front and side elevations.
Behind the façade the chapel is built in a basilica form. The basement level of the side elevation is lit by five large, segmentally arched windows, the ground floor with similar, but round headed examples, all with yellow brick dressings and each separated by a shallow pilaster. The clerestory level is set back, with a similar arrangement of five bay marked by pilasters, a triple window to each bay.
The chapel is listed Grade II. The Cadw listing description of 2001 describes the interior as: “Original chapel space divided vertically into two separate rooms. Lower room retains gallery balustrading (painted over previously varnished wood-work) on four sides, supported on round, cast-iron ground-floor columns with Tuscan capitals. Upper room retains round, cast-iron columns (at former gallery level) with composite capitals and semi-circular linking arches between columns. Raised centre section of roof with flat, boarded ceiling and round-headed clerestory windows in triplets; two ceiling ventilators replaced by flat panels. Ceilings to aisles supported on simple triangular, wooden trusses. Large, pre-1914 organ by Harrison and Harrison of Durham, in grand, semi-circular recess behind modern pulpit. Chapel originally had pews to seat 850. Room below original chapel has round cast-iron columns and is divided into smaller rooms by partitions.” (5)
S Fielding RCAHMW July 2025
(1) South Wales Daily News 6th November 1890 with picture
(2) South Wales Daily News 22nd October 1897 (Third Edition)
(3) The Cardiff Times 3rd September 1910
(4) Royal Commission on the Church of England and Other Religious Buildings in Wales and Monmouthsire Vol VI p. 262
(5) Cadw Listing Register Ref: 23156
