Glendower House (or Glyndŵr House),
Glendower Street, Monmouth, Wales, is a
Victorian former
Congregational
Congregational churches (also Congregationalist churches or Congregationalism) are Protestant churches in the Calvinist tradition practising congregationalist church governance, in which each congregation independently and autonomously runs its ...
chapel constructed in a
Classical style. The
describes it as "a chapel of exceptional sophistication and elaboration of design and one of the earliest Italianate chapels in Wales".
[]] It is named after
Owain Glyndŵr.
History
Monmouth's Congregationalists first worshipped at Dixton Gate before moving firstly to Dyffryn House on St Mary Street and then to Glendower Street. They were a prosperous and prominent congregation, with members involved in many of the town's activities, such as the
eisteddfod
In Welsh culture, an ''eisteddfod'' is an institution and festival with several ranked competitions, including in poetry and music.
The term ''eisteddfod'', which is formed from the Welsh morphemes: , meaning 'sit', and , meaning 'be', means, ac ...
.
[ Keith Kissack]
''Nonconformity in Monmouth''
Capel: The Chapels Heritage Society Newsletter, no.29, 1997
The building was constructed in 1843/44 to the design of architect
William Armstrong of
Bristol
Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...
. The central bay is defined by giant
Corinthian Corinthian or Corinthians may refer to:
*Several Pauline epistles, books of the New Testament of the Bible:
**First Epistle to the Corinthians
**Second Epistle to the Corinthians
**Third Epistle to the Corinthians (Orthodox)
*A demonym relating to ...
columns ''
in antis
An anta (pl. antæ, antae, or antas; Latin, possibly from ''ante'', "before" or "in front of"), or sometimes parastas (pl. parastades), is an architectural term describing the posts or pillars on either side of a doorway or entrance of a Greek ...
''. It is a smaller version of the
Brunswick Chapel in Bristol, which Armstrong also designed. The building has an impressive
neoclassical façade, and memorial windows in
stained glass by the
Camm Brothers
Thomas William Camm (1839 – 1912) was an English stained glass designer and manufacturer.
Born in Spon Lane, West Bromwich, he worked for the ornamental department of Chance Brothers in Smethwick until it closed down in 1865, when he set up ...
of
Smethwick.The building was listed at
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 ...
on 27 October 1965 and, after near-complete dereliction, was converted into a private house in 2002.
[ Its owner, Anthony Sully, was awarded a substantial grant by Cadw for the conversion, which he designed himself. The project featured on three UK television programmes and won a ]Civic Trust for Wales
The Civic Trust for Wales (Welsh: ''Ymddiriedolaeth Ddinesig Cymru'') was founded in 1964. It is a registered charity.
The organisation promotes civic pride as a means to improve the quality of life for all in the places where the Welsh live and ...
award in 2003–4.
Notes
References
*
External links
*
{{Buildings in Monmouth
Congregational churches in Wales
Grade II* listed buildings in Monmouthshire
History of Monmouth, Wales
Buildings and structures in Monmouth, Wales
Former churches in Wales