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Congregational Church;Van Road United Reformed Church, Van Road; Goodrich Street, Caerphilly

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NPRN14340
Map ReferenceST18NE
Grid ReferenceST1582186816
Unitary (Local) AuthorityCaerphilly
Old CountyGlamorgan
CommunityCaerphilly
Type Of SiteCHAPEL
PeriodPost Medieval
Description
This chapel was built by W Beddoe Rees of Cardiff, at a cost of £2,750, after a group of Englsh speaking Congregationalists had broken away from their Welsh speaking counterparts. The foundation stones were laid on 23rd November 1903, and the church was opened in August 1904. It was designed to seat 518 and the first minister was the Rev. Edward Bush.

This is a large chapel built in Flowing Decorated style of rock-faced Newbridge sandstone with extensive Bathstone dressings, banding and quoins. The gabled entrance has steep steps up to central doorway, the steps having square gatepiers with capstones, iron gates and railings. Over the doorway is a large five-light Decorated window with flowing tracery, while the doorway (with elaborate hinges to the doors) is set in a band Gothic-arched cusped panelling (some pierced as windows).
To the left is a polygonal Bathstone turret buttress, while to the right is a tapering, square-plan tower with clasping buttresses, a castellated parapet and a pyramidal spire. There is a broad 5-light window to the bell stage, and 3 cusped lights to the lower stage, while at ground level is a camber-headed doorway, the door with elaborate strap hinges. To the left elevation is a stair tower with splayed corners, a band of flat headed windows and a castellated parapet.
The side elevations have five windows separated by shallow buttresses, while to the rear is a shallow projection to organ recess.

The lobby has a decorated, wood panelled and stained glass screen in Art-Nouveau style, and leads to a lofty interior with narrow cast iron columns supporting a hammer-beam roof and timber arcades. There is a Gothic arched recess to the south end, with painted scroll and inscription above. The recess houses an organ with a panelled case and exposed pipes. In front is a polygonal wooden pulpit in Gothic style with blind arches, and with stalls to the sides. To the rear corners are splayed timber and stained glass screens leading to the vestry and the stairs to a lower level. There are three banks of wooden benches, and tghere is stained glass to windows, mainly in Art-Nouveau style
SOURCE: CADW listing database 20th June 2008