All Souls Chapel also known as the Seamen's Institute and later as Merton House was a large chapel which stood at

Cardiff Docks Cardiff Docks () is a port in southern Cardiff, Wales. At its peak, the port was one of the largest dock systems in the world with a total quayage of almost . Once the main port for the export of South Wales coalfield, South Wales coal, the Po ...

, near the present

Roald Dahl Plass Roald Dahl Plass is a public space in Cardiff Bay, Cardiff, Wales. It is named after Cardiff-born author Roald Dahl, and is located on the coast along the south of the city centre. The square is home to the Senedd building housing the Senedd, t ...

History

Since 1863, HMS Thisbe had served as a floating church operated by the Mission to Seamen (now the

Mission to Seafarers The Mission to Seafarers (formerly The Missions to Seamen) is a Christian welfare charity serving merchant crews around the world. It operates through a global network of chaplains, staff and volunteers and provides practical, emotional and spiri ...

), being moored at Cardiff's West Dock. In 1891, the ship was replaced with All Souls Chapel, still operated by the Mission. The building work was funded largely by public subscription, with the Bute Docks Company donating £1000 of the £5000 cost, and the site being donated by the Marquis of Bute. The building was designed by E. W. M. Corbett, the architect to the Bute estates, and was built of ballast stone with brick facings, resembling a conventional church in the

Gothic Revival Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic or neo-Gothic) is an Architectural style, architectural movement that after a gradual build-up beginning in the second half of the 17th century became a widespread movement in the first half ...

style, but within, was divided into two floors, with the ground floor housing the Institute, a library and reading room for mariners, the chaplain's room, caretaker's apartments and entrance hall. The first floor was given over to worship, housing the church itself, which could seat 450 people. The Institute was opened on 19 November 1891, with the church being dedicated soon after on 25th. In the following decade, the building underwent a £750 renovation, and was reopened by the Viscount Tredegar on 1 May 1906. The economic fortunes of the area declined in the postwar years, and All Souls closed in 1952.Rose, J. Cardiff Churches through Time. Amberley. 2013. p. 39 The building was subsequently converted into a commercial premises, and was used by the analytical chemists Treharne & Davies Ltd, under whose ownership it was renamed Merton House, before eventual demolition in 1987 as part of a redevelopment project. No trace of the building remains today.

Pulpit

The pulpit from All Souls was removed following the building's cessation as a church, and is now located in

St Edward's Church, Roath St Edward's Church is a Church in Wales church in Penylan, Cardiff, South Wales. It is a daughter church of St Margaret's Church, Roath, the only one remaining in use after the closure of St Anne's in 2015. History Structure of 1915 A product ...

. It was installed in 1953, a gift by the family of Rev. Ken Martin, who was the assistant priest at St Edwards for many years.

References

External links

* Aerial photograph showing All Souls Chapel (to the lower right of the oval dock basin) {{Authority control Churches completed in 1892 1952 disestablishments in Wales Chapels in Cardiff History of Cardiff 1892 establishments in Wales