Zion or Seion Baptist Chapel is a
Baptist chapel in the town of
Llanelli
Llanelli (" St Elli's Parish"; ) is a market town and the largest community in Carmarthenshire and the preserved county of Dyfed, Wales. It is located on the Loughor estuary north-west of Swansea and south-east of the county town, Carmarth ...
,
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. It was built in 1857 and is located at Island Place, close to the junction of Water Street with Upper Park Street.
The church was founded in 1831, before the erection of the present building. The congregation selected
David Bowen, to be its pastor, a position he held until his death in 1853.
Zion Baptist Chapel was erected at a time when Llanelli had become a significant regional producer of tinplate and steel and the population was growing strongly and needed more buildings in which to worship. The building was designed by Henry Rogers and erected in 1857. It is the largest of the Baptist chapels in the town and has a three-bay façade with arched upper windows and a timber-pedimented porch. There are giant
pilaster
In classical architecture, a pilaster is an architectural element used to give the appearance of a supporting column and to articulate an extent of wall, with only an ornamental function. It consists of a flat surface raised from the main wal ...
s in greyish-brown local stone contrasting with ornamentations in brown sandstone. Inside the chapel is a large open space with galleries on all four sides, the organ gallery having been added in 1929. The congregation occupies box pews, some of which are tucked up under the galleries. Two schoolrooms dating from 1913 and built by William Griffiths adjoin the chapel.
The chapel was designated as a
Grade II-listed building on 3 December 1992, as "a fine example of classical tradition in chapel building and one of a series of similar Baptist chapels in Llanelli". The listing includes the railings that face onto the street. The
curates the archaeological, architectural and historic records for this church. These include digital photographs, a black and white postcard, transparencies and RCAHMW Digital Survey Archives.
References
{{coord, 51.6836, -4.1577, type:landmark_region:GB, display=title
Llanelli, Zion
Churches in Llanelli
Churches completed in 1857
1857 establishments in Wales
Chapels in Carmarthenshire