The Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales (RCAHMW) is appealing for information as part of its Capeli Cymru (Welsh Chapels) project, supported by the National Lottery, which aims to update records on more than 6,000 chapel sites.
The project seeks to identify which chapels remain in use, which have been repurposed, and which have been demolished altogether.
Councillor Ian Johnson, who assisted RCAHMW at the recent National Eisteddfod in Pembrokeshire, is calling on churches and chapels in Barry to contribute information to the project.
Councillor Johnson said: “From its early years as a Victorian dock town, Barry was home to a large number of nonconformist chapels, in both Welsh and English, and a range of Christian denominations, especially different forms of Baptist and Methodist chapels.
“The Capeli Cymru project is trying to better understand what has happened to those chapels, and I was able to tell them which buildings in Barry were still places of worship, which had been changed to other uses, and which ones, sadly, have been demolished.
“The project now wants to hear from those chapels in Barry who can provide them with more information about the current status of the congregation and ensure that the histories and records of the chapels can be looked after for future generations.”
Councillor Johnson recently gave a Welsh language tour on Barry’s Sacred Streets (Strydoedd Sanctaidd Y Barri) with the Victorian Barry Experience.
More details about the project and how to contribute can be found on line at the RCAHMW website.
