Name: Presbyterian Church

Denomination: English Presbyterian

Built: 1873
Remodelled: 1893
Enlarged: 1902

Photography: John Ball
Date: 29 March 2012
Camera: Nikon D50 digital SLR

Note 1: The English Presbyterian Church, Cowell Street, was built in 1873 in the Gothic style of the gable entry type, byarchitect Alfred Bucknall of Swansea. The church was altered in 1893 and enlarged in 1902. The steeply gabled head of the central doorway could have been inspired by pictures of the porches at Sienna Cathedral and the flanking small arches of the front and the tall lancet windows of the side are in Early English Gothic style of the early thirteenth-century. The elaboration of finish with the curved finials, or crockets, marching down the front gable and porch is quite sophisticated for a gothic chapel of this date. In 1905 the seated accommodation was recorded as 400 which was about half the size of the great majority of Welsh-language chapels in the town although the Sunday School could accommodate 350 which was fairly average for the town. [Source: Coflein database of the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales (accessed 26 Feb 2016)]