Penuel Baptist Chapel, Carmarthen is a

Baptist Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christian believers only (believer's baptism), and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe to the doctrines of soul compete ...

chapel and attached schoolroom in the town of

Carmarthen Carmarthen (, RP: ; cy, Caerfyrddin , "Merlin's fort" or "Sea-town fort") is the county town of Carmarthenshire and a community in Wales, lying on the River Towy. north of its estuary in Carmarthen Bay. The population was 14,185 in 2011, ...

Carmarthenshire Carmarthenshire ( cy, Sir Gaerfyrddin; or informally ') is a county in the south-west of Wales. The three largest towns are Llanelli, Carmarthen and Ammanford. Carmarthen is the county town and administrative centre. The county is known as ...

, Wales. The building dates from 1786 and is located in Priory Street at 7, Esplanade, Carmarthen. Penuel Baptist Chapel was built by Thomas Jones in 1872. It is set back from the road by a stout iron railing fence and has a schoolroom adjoining it which was built in 1886 by George Morgan. The chapel has a broad gabled facade and a large, uncluttered interior in a classical style. It has galleries on all four sides, the downward-pointing timber posts creating quasi-aisles. The corners of the galleries are curved and the fronts of the galleries have panels with balustrades. The organ is in a recess on one of the galleries and underneath this there is a free classical arcaded pulpit behind which is a curved and panelled back with pediments. In 1909–10, Penuel was fully renovated, to such an extent that only the walls and roof remained from the previous building. The church was designated as a

Grade II In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

listed building on 9 February 1999, being "a chapel of early origins with exceptional early C20 interior, unusual for the 2-storey arcades". At the time of its renovation in 1910 it was stated that the chapel could accommodate 800 people and was designed in such a way that the occupiers of any pew on the ground and gallery floors have a full view of the pulpit and organ.

References

{{reflist Carmarthen, Penuel Churches in Carmarthen Carmarthen, Penuel Churches completed in 1786