About
Hope Chapel is a Grade II listed building located on the corner of Station Hill and Derwen Road. Outline plans for a new church on this site were prepared by local architect Philip J Thomas in 1904. The Glamorgan Gazette reported that ‘a splendid site has been secured on the Dunraven Estate and most generous terms have been obtained….The chapel is cruciform, with transepts and organ chamber…the design is Gothic with traceried windows in the front and the building will be of imposing appearance’ (Glamorgan Gazette, February 1904). The foundation stone was laid in 1906 by Mrs WJ. Lewis (the oldest member of the existing congregation).
Hope Chapel was constructed in a Gothic Revival style with pale sandstone dressings and grey hammer-dressed facings. The Chapel’s distinctive front elevation includes two polygonal turrets flanking a large geometric traceried window (this means that the window is divided into different parts by sections of stone). Stepped buttresses flank the central doorway which has a deep moulded arched-head and double wooden doors with strap work hinges. The windows at the front of the building are known as lancet windows; these are tall, narrow windows with a pointed arch at the top. The ground floor windows on Derwen Road are much less ornate and rectangular in shape. The interior of the Chapel is well preserved and unusual in that the gallery is of a ‘cantilever’ design which means that there are no supporting columns and the gallery effectively sweeps around the inside of the church.
