Future of chapel buildings in Wales

A timely debate in the Welsh Assembly on the problems faced on building maintenance and support

On 7 October 2015, the day’s business at the National Assembly for Wales concluded with a short debate on “The Future of Chapel Buildings in Wales“, introduced by Mike Hedges AM, (Lab, Swansea East). After declaring his interest as member of Capel Seion Newydd—Eglwys y Bedyddwyr, Treforys, he indicated his intention to concentrate on nonconformist chapels as opposed to the Church in Wales, due solely to the time constraints.

He observed that in recent decades, there has been a gradual and continual decline in “the two great traditions of nineteenth and early twentieth century Welsh society” – attendance of the local chapel and the local public house. It was only in the late nineteenth century and the first decade of the twentieth century that the large and ornate nonconformist chapels were being built on a regular basis to cater for the ever-growing demands of congregations and local communities. Continue reading