Jerusalem Chapel,

Bethesda, Gwynedd Bethesda (; ) is a town and community in Gwynedd, Wales. It is on the banks of Afon Ogwen and on the edge of Snowdonia. It is about south-west of Bangor. It is a predominantly Welsh-speaking town. History The settlement's ancient name w ...

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

is a

Presbyterian Church of Wales The Presbyterian Church of Wales (), also known as the Calvinistic Methodist Church (), is a denomination of Protestant Christianity based in Wales. The Calvinistic Methodist movement has its origins in the 18th-century Welsh Methodist revival ...

chapel built in 1841–1842 and reconstructed in 1872–1875. Of colossal size, the chapel can accommodate 980 people in its horseshoe

amphitheatre An amphitheatre (American English, U.S. English: amphitheater) is an open-air venue used for entertainment, performances, and sports. The term derives from the ancient Greek ('), from ('), meaning "on both sides" or "around" and ('), meani ...

. Still an active chapel, it is a

Grade I listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

History

The original chapel was constructed in 1841–1842 by T. Evans of Bangor and rebuilt in 1872–1875 by Richard Davies. The cost of the original building was £3,400, and the rebuilding, £1,778. The chapel was constructed for the Calvinist Methodist community, a distinct Welsh branch of

Methodism Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a Protestant Christianity, Christian Christian tradition, tradition whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's brother ...

. In 1903 an organ was installed, having been purchased from

Huddersfield Town Hall Huddersfield Town Hall is a municipal facility in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England. It is a Grade II listed building. History The building was commissioned to replace the offices of the Huddersfield Improvement Commissioners who had initia ...

. The chapel remains an active place of worship for the

. Daily services are conducted in

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, of or about Wales * Welsh language, spoken in Wales * Welsh people, an ethnic group native to Wales Places * Welsh, Arkansas, U.S. * Welsh, Louisiana, U.S. * Welsh, Ohio, U.S. * Welsh Basin, during t ...

Architecture and description

The chapel is constructed in an Italianate palazzo style, described in the

Gwynedd Gwynedd () is a county in the north-west of Wales. It borders Anglesey across the Menai Strait to the north, Conwy, Denbighshire, and Powys to the east, Ceredigion over the Dyfi estuary to the south, and the Irish Sea to the west. The ci ...

volume of the ''Buildings of Wales'' series as "more town hall than chapel". The chapel is large, of a nearly-square plan. The exterior is of

stucco Stucco or render is a construction material made of aggregates, a binder, and water. Stucco is applied wet and hardens to a very dense solid. It is used as a decorative coating for walls and ceilings, exterior walls, and as a sculptural and ...

and the building is two storeys with a

slate Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous, metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade, regional metamorphism. It is the finest-grained foliated metamorphic ro ...

roof. The interior forms a "horseshoe amphitheatre" capable of seating 980 people. The square plan of the exterior is concealed internally by a curved wall and the amphitheatre has a domed ceiling. The chapel is a

, its listing describing it as "a chapel of remarkable scale and dignity ...with a(n) interior of exceptional interest".

Notes

References

External links

* {{Commons category inline, Capel Jerusalem, Bethesda Grade I listed churches in Gwynedd History of Gwynedd Presbyterian churches in Wales Presbyterian Church of Wales Chapels in Gwynedd