Bethania

Heritage listing

Reason for designation: Listed as an early chapel for the area, with fine well-preserved interior. History: Independent Chapel of 1859, built for a congregation first gathered about 1850 when the first coal was extracted and houses built at Mountain Ash. First chapel opened 30/1/1855, and cost 320. Rebuilt in the 1859 for 950 including Sunday school. Exterior: Independent Chapel in Victorian classical style. Painted stucco with slate roof and crested ridge tiles. Broad 2-storey 3-bay gable facade with rock-faced stone plinth. Stucco quoins, window dressings and first floor sill course. Moulded dentil cornice under pedimental gable with date plaque and plain bargeboards. First floor has arched windows, one each side of a stepped triplet, all with moulded surrounds, small panes and marginal glazing bars. Outer windows are same size as triplet centre window. Ground floor has rusticated openings with keystones. Square-headed windows with stone sills either side of a large round-arched doorway. Half-glazed grain-painted double doors with radiating-bar fanlight. Iron railings to front on dwarf stone wall. Side walls are rendered with four windows each floor, upper and lower as facade. Two similar windows are on each floor at rear. Interior: Attractive broad interior with painted grained woodwork and ornate ceiling. Three-sided gallery with curved angles on 3x1x3 simple painted iron columns. Alternating long and short horizontal moulded panels to gallery front over painted cove. Clock faces pulpit. Brass hand rail on gallery front, curving to start of long sides. End wall has very large arched recess with pilasters and moulded head, subdivided by centre pilaster with two pointed arches above. Roundel in spandrel, cornice at impost level and painted grained panelling between pi

From Cadw under OGL v3.