Cylchgronau Cymru

chapel is of great interest, too, as an example of the Victorian Gothic taste of the period; the worship of the opening services was in the best parish church or even cathedral tradition of the day; there was emphasis on dignified liturgy and ceremonial; and it was the period when choral festivals became popular, and when chanted psalms and elaborate anthems to the accompaniment of pipe organs were de rigeur in Welsh rural parishes. The building was erected by masons and carpenters working on the Pentre estate, even allowing for carved and polished stone work to be executed elsewhere or by imported craftsmen. The inside walls were decorated with Bath stone arches and mouldings to the windows. Floral and other designs of fresco secco work adorned the walls and between the roof timbers which were of Norwegian pine. All the windows were arched with pillars of polished Aberdeen granite, Bath stone bases and floreated caps from which the arches sprang. Within the sanctuary the three windows, designed bv Messrs. Clayton and Bell of Birmingham, were designed on the theme of 'Baptism'. The central east window, in memory of Arthur Henry Saunders Davies, was presented by the Rev Alfred Barker of Shenfield Rectory, near Basingstoke. Another of the sanctuary windows was the gift of Mrs. James John Lloyd (of Bronwydd) in memory of her parents David Arthur Saunders-Davies, MP., and his wife, Elizabeth Maria, only daughter of Col. Owen Philipps of Williamston, Pembrokeshire. The third sanctuary window was given by Mrs. Fanny Saunders Davies in memory of her children, Herbert John Gough Saunders and Agnes Catherine Elizabeth Saunders, who had both died young. At the west end was a richly stained circular window with elaborate tracery depicting the Four Evangelists which had been given jointly by the late Sir Thomas Davies, Lloyd, Bt., and Sir Marteine Lloyd of Bronwydd. The entrance doors were of oak and reinforced with iron studs, and within, the arch was supported on each side by Aberdeen granite pillars in groups of three their bases and caps matching those of the windows. Inside the building there were two memorial tablets of white marble the one was in memory of Owen Gwyn Saunders Davies, second son of David Arthur Saunders Davies, who had been killed at Cathcarts Hill before Sebastopol, and was the gift of his fellow officers. The other tablet was to record the building of the chapel in memory of Arthur Henry Saunders Davies. The floor of the sanctuary was covered with glazed encaustic tiles representing the arms and crest of the family as well as liturgical motifs. The tiles were bordered with a band of polished Aberdeen granite. To the north of the nave was the organ chamber containing a small pipe organ built by Vowles of Bristol, and allowing for the addition of further ranks of pipes. The instrument was the gift of W. S. Cookson, of Lincoln's Inn, a prominent counsel whose name features often in the legal papers of west Wales estates. The altar covering, given by Mrs. Thomas Morris of Coomb, was of rich pur- ple velvet and was embroidered in gold and liturgical colours with a gold cross hanging at the front. The reading desk and lectern of carved oak the latter in the form of an eagle on a circular pedestal and base were gifts from David Davies of Penyffynnon, the agent for the Pentre estate. But the most elaborate items listed amongst the furnishings of the chapel were the pulpit and font of alabaster. The former had figures in mosaic of the Evangelists and SS. Peter and Paul within recessed arches and marble pillars. Underneath the pulpit desk were the rose, passion flower and lily ex- ecuted to match the polished Aberdeen granite. The top of the pulpit was em- battlemented and wreathed with richly carved leaves and flowers. The font