Tiny Chapel

(Disclaimer: Joking aside, I fully understand the risks/dangers involved in these adventures and do so in the full knowledge of what could happen. I don't encourage or condone and I accept no responsibility for anyone else following in my footsteps. Under UK law, trespass without force is a civil offence. I never break into a place, I never photograph a place that is currently occupied, I never take any items and I never cause any damage, as such no criminal offences have been committed in the making of this blog. I will not disclose location.  I leave the building as I find it and only enter to take photographs for my own pleasure and to document the building. 

 

 

Somewhere out in the depths of rural Wales, we decided to stop by this unfortunate little ruin. It's a very blink-and-you'll-miss-it kind of place, and even if you spotted it, you could quite easily mistake it for a generic ruined shell, never guessing that it's actually a small chapel. We just had to check it out. It wasn't the sort of adventure I'd tell stories about at the pub, but that's okay. It's still cute. I do a lot of crazy things, but I love the casual walk-in urbex snacks too.

I have a soft spot for chapels, even though I don't have a soft spot for God. The guys a lunatic. But chapels and churches are quite pretty.

 

There's a little noticeboard in the entrance, but it's been smashed and nothing is on display anymore.

Slipping inside was pretty easy. The door is wide open and if anyone ever did care about this place, they're long gone.

Check it out! It's pretty cute!

 

This tiny chapel was built in 1825 to be a branch of another nearby chapel that was built in 1822. To be honest, I'm not sure what it actually means to be branch of another chapel, but I assume that means the two chapels were ran by the same people, but with the second one built for the convenience of rural communities, to stop people walking quite as far to attend service.

 

The folks who congregated here possibly walked for miles from a multitude of tiny hamlets and settlements. While today, the idea of walking five miles to attend church is a little absurd, it's important to remember that in the 1820s, transport wasn't what it is today. The people in these tiny hamlets couldn't just drive into town. 

 

I'm not exactly subtle with my religious feelings. I can think of nothing less worthy of my time than sitting silently while someone tells me that I'm going to Hell for having a wank. The bible says wearing more than one type of fabric will get us into Hell too, so we might as well just fap to our hearts content. 

 

But my cynicism is maybe a little facetious too. The people who attended service here were probably nice people, just trying to make it from one day to the next, and religion aside, this was perhaps one of the few times they got to mingle and catch up with their friends. In that respect, it's sad to see this place rotting away. Someone once had fond memories of this place, and would be upset to see it as it is today. Everywhere mattered to somebody once.

 

Of course, such chapels fell out of use as technology improved. As transport became more accessible, the world got smaller. Not literally, of course, but in the 20th Century, ten miles wasn't as big a deal as it was back in the 1800s. Consequentially, chapels like this became a bit redundant.

 

I tried in vain to find out more information about this place, translating the various Welsh titles of the surrounding roads and woods to see if there were any leads. The name of the nearest forest literally translates to "Factory in the Woods" which is intriguing, but a dead end. It sure hints that there was something industrial nearby at one point, which makes me wonder if maybe miners attended service here too.

 

Other translations of various bits of Cymraeg on the old maps reveal the likes of "the tight gate" and "the old forge," None of which is very revealing, but I always find it interesting nonetheless. Many Welsh locations translate similarly. For example, the word "Llan," which starts the name of a good few hundred Welsh villages and towns, literally translates to "church," with the syllables that follow usually deriving from the name of some sort of saint.

This chapel isn't named after any saint, but there is a saint who apparently lived near here, Saint Wddyn. This mysterious fellow allegedly resided in a nearby cave next to a waterfall, where he lived entirely on wine and heard the news of the world from two pet ravens. It sounds like he was living the dream.

He can't possibly be real though. If you're familiar with Norse mythology, you'll know that Odin also had two ravens who flew around the world and gave him the news while he was eating breakfast. And if you're familiar with Welsh, you'll know that W is a vowel. It doesn't make a "wuh" sound like it does in English. It makes an "oo" sound like in "Oooooh, that sounds a bit like Odin."

 

Odin may not have actually lived in a cave near this chapel, but it sure looks like his son threw a casual bolt of lightning this way. There's a big gaping hole in the ceiling.

There's also two bottles of salt under one of the surviving pews, which is a bit weird. Did someone just declare war on the local slug population? 

 

Alas, the altar has gone, along with a good chunk of the wall, exposing the stonework. It would be interesting to see pictures of this place when it was active, or less derelict, but so far I've not been able to find any. 

But that's all I've got for this location. As far as abandoned locations go, it's good for beginners or casual urbexers who are maybe curious about abandoned places but don't want to climb anything or be chased by security or nearly die. For picnickers, there are seats! Bring some refreshments. Bring your girlfriend. Bring your boyfriend. Don't bring them both at the same time though, because that could get awkward. 

For adrenaline junkies it's a bit of a flop. Still, I enjoy chapels so I'm quite happy.

 

My next one will be a slightly larger chapel, which admittedly has a lot more going for it, and then I'll be talking about a mansion. It's going to be amazing! In the meantime, follow my on Instagram, Reddit, Vero and Twitter. Oh yeah, and Facebook too, I guess. Maybe you'll see me on your feed if the shitty algorithm is having a good day.

Thanks for reading!