• historic
• parks
• ecclesiastical
• secular
  • bedford st. ryhl
  • capel y glyn
  • church croft flixton
  • earby mining museum
  • gladstone conservatory
  • the hunting lodge
  • queen st. rhyl
• domestic

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Client	Lloyd Evans Prichard
Location	Snowdonia, Wales
Status	Snowdonia National Park Area
Summary	Repair and conversion of welsh chapel into two dwellings
Completion	September 2006
Build Value	£200,000

Capel y Glyn was built in 1850 using local materials and labour. It is located on the edge of Snowdonia National Park and functioned as a Methodist Chapel until 2002.

It is a modest building set against the hillside and designed to seat 100 worshippers whilst accommodating a caretaker and his family at lower ground floor level.

Lloyd Evans Prichard purchased the chapel in 2002 and resolved to use the building, which was semi-derelict, as a test-bed for the materials and methods we specify on projects undertaken for our clients.

The two most notable are perhaps the render and the timber paint specification.
The render specification was three coat 1:3 hydraulic lime/sand with both coarse stuff and an element of local clay added. This render has settled to a natural colour and has not required any decoration.
The windows, which are box sashes, were carefully removed to a joiners' shop where they were dismantled and stripped to bare timber and repaired as necessary. The frames were then painted using Holkham Linseed oil paints. This system – which is Scandinavian in origin – entails treating the frame with two coats of warm raw linseed oil prior to the application of the paint finish.

We opted for this system as something of an experiment. The finish is designed to last some 15 years with a simple re-oiling after the first seven years. The paint production is environmentally sound. The primary drawback seems to be the drying time between coats which can be up to 48 hours depending on the weather.

If this paint finish lasts well – and to date it has been on for four years – it is our intention to recommend Holkham paints to all our clients.

Now complete, the upper floor of the Chapel has been converted into an apartment with three double bedrooms, kitchen, bathroom and a double height living space. The lower ground living accommodation, with more of a "cottage" feel has been refurbished with two double bedrooms, kitchen, bathroom and snug living space. Both have live wood-burning stoves which create a cosy atmosphere on those cold winter nights.

The Chapel can be rented on a holiday let basis, either individually or together as they both function independently, with separate front doors.

For more information about renting the chapel, click [here].