COVID may have slowed down the renovation of a chapel in Tremadog but work there is continuing and the project has entered its next stage.

Work to restore Capel Peniel started three years ago, long before Covid hit, and although the pandemic slowed work down, Original Roofing Company of Blaenau Ffestiniog are now working on the inside the chapel.

As Capel Peniel has been empty for at least 15 years and there has been no heating inside, damp has appeared in a number of places, including the walls, wooden seats and the gallery panelling.

Porthmadog historian Martin Pritchard (pictured below) said work is being done to clean them.

He said: “The ceiling and walls have been washed with special cleaner with good results, and have now been prepared ready for painting.

“The wood work is also to be cleaned.

“The gas boiler which heated the chapel is to be replaced with a new boiler.

“Any necessary repairs in the heating is being done by local contractor, AER of Penrhyndeudraeth.”

He added: “The broken panes of glass in the windows are also being replaced, as budget permits.

“A display panel is to be installed outside which will have information about the history of the chapel, as well as old photos.”

Capel Peniel is managed by Addoldai Cymru (Welsh Religious Buildings Trust).

“It is one of two chapels in North Wales under the care of Addoldai Cymru,” Martin explained.

“The other eight are in Mid and South Wales.

“Addoldai Cymru is a charity set up to take into ownership a selection of redundant chapels that are historically and/or architecturally significant to the story of chapel building and Nonconformity in Wales and that are valuable to their local communities.”

Commenting on the history of the chapel, Martin said: “Its innovative gable front and auditorium plan proved highly influential in the evolution of Welsh chapel design, whilst its pedimented portico with Tuscan columns has made it one of Wales’ most iconic chapels.

“The Calvinistic Methodist chapel was finished in 1810, and when enlarged in 1849 to the original designs, it was possibly the most striking chapel in Wales, its temple front loosely based on Inigo Jones’ St Paul’s, Covent Garden.

Phase one of the restoration work was carried out in 2018. This saw major roof repairs to the Grade I listed building, funded by a Listed Place of Worship Roof Grant awarded by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.

“The slates varied in size, large slates at the bottom of the roof, then decreasing in size as they reached the ridge,” Martin said.

“Each slate was taken off, numbered and recorded.

“They were then put back into their original positions, and any broken or damaged slates replaced by similar slates sought from local quarries or other demolished buildings nationwide.”

In 2019 phase two started, funded by the National Lottery, money raised by a concert organised by Rhys Meirion and friends, and from the Save a Pediment in Peril fund through which locals donated money.

Repairs to the columns and covings were carried out by a specialist company from England.

“It was discovered that the wood of the large window in the front of the chapel was in very good condition and that only the putty housing the glass needed renewing,” said Martin.

The front has been painted to its original colouring and looks very striking.

For more information, or to arrange a visit to the chapel, visit www.welshchapels.org/peniel