Former Capel Tabernacl, Pwllheli

button-theme-slavesLink to Welsh translationFormer Capel Tabernacl, Pwllheli

This building was erected in 1861 to replace an earlier Baptist chapel. It features a tall spire, reputedly built by a Dublin stonemason named Michael King. The sculpted stones, around window and door openings for example, came from Penmon, Anglesey.

It was often thought that the other stonework you can see on the façade may have come to Pwllheli as ships’ ballast, but it is igneous rock (from volcanic eruptions) quarried at Carreg yr Imbill (Gimblet Rock), at the mouth of Pwllheli harbour. The rock dates from the Ordovician age (about 450-458 million years ago) and can be seen elsewhere along Penlan Street, as kerb stones and in buildings in the area to the west of the railway station. See the footnotes for more about the quarry and stones.

Baptists first met locally in the late 18th century, in Abererch. One of their leading lights was Marged Jones, who moved to Pwllheli in 1812 to live with her son, ship’s carpenter Robert Williams. They held Baptist services in their home. As the congregation grew, the services moved to a carpenter’s workshop. That too was outgrown and so a chapel, Capel Bethel, was opened in 1816 in the Pentre Poeth area of Pwllheli.

Portrait of fugitive slave Moses RoperFugitive slave Moses Roper (1815-1891), pictured right, gave a talk at the chapel on 3 December 1841. He was born in North Carolina, USA, after his slave mother was raped by her owner. Moses was persecuted and tortured before fleeing to freedom in 1834, after more than 15 failed attempts. He published an account of his “adventures and escape” in Britain in 1839 and spoke about his experiences in chapels and other venues. By 1844, 4,000 copies had been sold of the Welsh translation of his book.

When Moses spoke at the chapel, the minister was Rev Joel Jones. He was a talented preacher, and his large congregation included some of Pwllheli’s wealthiest people. He died of tuberculosis in 1844 and Rev Morris Williams, who had recently arrived from the USA, attended his funeral. Morris stayed as the chapel’s minister until 1850, when he returned to the USA.

Capel Bethel fell into disrepair and was sold in 1985. In 1989 the Home Office gave permission for bodies to be exhumed from the chapel grounds and reburied at Deneio. Many of them had been buried at Bethel after 1861 (the Tabernacl had no burial ground).

Capel Tabernacl closed in 2006 and the building was repurposed for commercial uses.

With thanks to Rev Ioan W Gruffydd, and to Dr Hannah-Rose Murray for Moses Roper information. Also to Dr Jana Horak, of the Welsh Stone Forum, for rock and quarry information

Postcode: LL53 5DE    View Location Map

Footnotes: More about the quarry and rock

A 21-year lease on Carreg yr Imbill was issued in 1858 to Watkin Meryick Jones of Birkenhead, trading as the Liverpool & Pwllheli Granite Company. The annual rent was £5.0.0 with royalties of 2d per ton for building stone and 1d per ton for small paving stone. The lease was surrendered just four years later and reissued to Thomas Jumip of Liverpool, again for 21 years but with rent increased to £5.5.0. The quarry was still being leased from 1918.

The quarry was initially a response to the increased demand for paving stone as industrial cities expanded. The quarry had a small dock and jetty to dispatch the stone by boat. It's now infilled and occupied by the Gimblet Rock Holiday Park.

Stone from the quarry is composed predominantly of the minerals clinopyroxene (dark) and plagioclase (light). The stone has ashlar blocks, arranged in a random pattern, as opposed to regular layers. Some stones are evenly textured but many show a mottled texture caused by large patches of coarse crystals (up to 1m across), or darker (pyroxene-rich) or paler (plagioclase-rich) patches. These formed during the crystallisation of the magma. Close inspection of the stone shows that finer-grained, more evenly textured dolerite predominates, but there are many examples of where it is cross cut by patches of coarser gabbro (referred to as pegmatite). Some of these patches are well-defined while others are more diffuse blobs.