Twyn Community Centre () is a municipal building in The Twyn Square in

Caerphilly Caerphilly (, ; , ) is a town and community (Wales), community in Wales. It is situated at the southern end of the Rhymney Valley and separated from the Cardiff suburbs of Lisvane and Rhiwbina by Caerphilly Mountain. It is north of Cardiff an ...

, Wales. The structure, which was commissioned as a

Calvinistic Methodist The Presbyterian Church of Wales (), also known as the Calvinistic Methodist Church (), is a denomination of Protestant Christianity based in Wales. The Calvinistic Methodist movement has its origins in the 18th-century Welsh Methodist revival ...

Chapel, now accommodates the offices and meeting place of Caerphilly Town Council.

History

The building was commissioned as a

Chapel, and erected on a mound () to the southeast of

Caerphilly Castle Caerphilly Castle () is a medieval castle, fortification in Caerphilly in South Wales. The castle was constructed by Gilbert de Clare, 7th Earl of Gloucester, Gilbert de Clare in the 13th century as part of his campaign to maintain control of ...

. It was built in

rubble masonry Rubble masonry or rubble stone is rough, uneven building stone not laid in regular courses. It may fill the core of a wall which is faced with unit masonry such as brick or ashlar. Some medieval cathedral walls have outer shells of ashlar wi ...

and completed in 1791. The chapel was rebuilt in the Gothic Revival style at a cost of £800 in around 1880. The design involved an asymmetrical main frontage facing to the west. The first bay on the left featured a three-stage

hexagon In geometry, a hexagon (from Greek , , meaning "six", and , , meaning "corner, angle") is a six-sided polygon. The total of the internal angles of any simple (non-self-intersecting) hexagon is 720°. Regular hexagon A regular hexagon is de ...

-shaped tower, which was projected forward. There was a doorway in the first stage, a pair of arched windows in the second stage and a clock with a stone surround in the third stage, all surmounted by a

mansard roof A mansard or mansard roof (also called French roof or curb roof) is a multi-sided gambrel-style hip roof characterised by two slopes on each of its sides, with the lower slope at a steeper angle than the upper, and often punctured by dormer wi ...

with cresting and

finial A finial () or hip-knob is an element marking the top or end of some object, often formed to be a decorative feature. In architecture, it is a small decorative device, employed to emphasize the Apex (geometry), apex of a dome, spire, tower, roo ...

s. The main block of six bays, located to the south of the tower, was fenestrated by

lancet window A lancet window is a tall, narrow window with a sharp pointed arch at its top. This arch may or may not be a steep lancet arch (in which the compass centres for drawing the arch fall outside the opening). It acquired the "lancet" name from its rese ...

s on the ground floor and by arched windows on the first floor. These were paired in the second and fifth bays, which were surmounted by gables. In December 1904, the Welsh

prophet In religion, a prophet or prophetess is an individual who is regarded as being in contact with a divinity, divine being and is said to speak on behalf of that being, serving as an intermediary with humanity by delivering messages or teachings ...

and leading figure of the

1904–1905 Welsh revival The 1904–1905 Welsh revival was the largest Christian revival in Wales during the 20th century. It was one of the most dramatic in terms of its effect on the population, and triggered revivals in several other countries. The movement kept the c ...

, Evan Roberts visited the chapel and preached to a large crowd of 2,400 people both in the chapel and in other buildings in the surrounding area. Meanwhile, following significant population growth, largely associated with the mining industry, a

local board A local board of health (or simply a ''local board'') was a local authority in urban areas of England and Wales from 1848 to 1894. They were formed in response to cholera epidemics and were given powers to control sewers, clean the streets, regulat ...

was established in Caerphilly in 1893. After the local board was succeeded by Caerphilly Urban District Council in 1894, the new council established its headquarters at a converted house called Bron Rhiw on Mountain Road. Bron Rhiw ceased to be the local seat of government when the enlarged Rhymney Valley District Council was established in 1974. In the 1980s, after the chapel became disused, the new council decided to acquire and enlarge it. A new canted frontage, with an

oriel window An oriel window is a form of bay window which protrudes from the main wall of a building but does not reach to the ground. Supported by corbels, bracket (architecture), brackets, or similar cantilevers, an oriel window generally projects from an ...

on the first floor, was added at the north end, a new section was added at the south end, and the height of the tower was increased by the insertion of some stained glass windows below the mansard roof. The enlargement accommodated a community centre as well as offices and a council chamber for Caerphilly Town Council. Since 2006, the building has also been one of the host venues for the Caerphilly Flower Festival.

References

{{Government buildings in Wales Buildings and structures in Caerphilly County Borough Government buildings completed in 1791 City and town halls in Wales