GwyneddPENTREGWYNFRYNSalemChapel(©crowncopyright2020)5 ©CrownCopyright2020

Salem Chapel

If you're Welsh, you'll know the old, eerie painting of Salem instantly.

Pentre Gwynfryn, Gwynedd

Opening times

Sorry, there are no regular opening times for this church.

Address

Pentre Gwynfryn
Gwynedd
LL45 2NP

The construction of Capel Salem was started in 1826 and completed in 1851, built of stone in the Vernacular style with a long wall entry plan. It has a slate roof and large stones as quoins and lintels. The Chapel interior remains unchanged and the fittings are contemporary with the chapel building. It has box pews with raked seating descending towards the pulpit against the lower end gable, as in other Welsh chapels built c1860. The chapel house is set back from the chapel and there is a graveyard in front. Capel Salem is now Grade II Listed as a good nineteenth century chapel retaining good character and many original features.

The chapel was made famous in a painting from 1908. In the centre is an old Welsh woman walking between pews, a tall black hat on her head, a shawl creeping over her left arm creating a devilish illusion. The blue paisley detail in the crook of her elbow? This was rumoured to be the devil's eye. Her elbow itself? The devil's nose. A fold of material, his mouth, the shawl's fringing, the devil's beard....and even though Salem's English painter, Sydney Curnow Vosper , denied making these effects deliberate, he admitted he'd put a ghostly figure in the chapel window. The painting was subsequently bought by the makers of Sunlight Soap, exhibited in London and featured in their calendar. The same painting now hangs in the Lever Art Gallery in Port Sunlight, Liverpool and is described as a national icon. A copy of the painting hangs in Salem Chapel.

  • Captivating architecture

  • Enchanting atmosphere

  • Famous connections

  • Fascinating churchyard

  • Glorious furnishings

  • Social heritage stories

  • Accessible toilets in church

  • Dog friendly

  • Level access to the main areas

  • Parking within 250m

  • Space to secure your bike

  • Walkers & cyclists welcome

  • Other

Other nearby churches

St Tanwg

Llandanwg, Gwynedd

The present building dates to the early Medieval period. In the churchyard lies the grave of the Welsh poet, Sion Phillips, a contemporary of Shakespeare, who lived at nearby Shell Island, he was drowned whilst crossing from Shell Island to Llandanwg in 1620.

St John the Evangelist

Barmouth, Gwynedd

Towering over the town of Barmouth is the cathedral sized church of St John the Evangelist, primarily funded and furnished by the Perrins family of Lea & Perrins Worcester sauce, it is well worth the climb up the hill to visit.

St Tecwyn

Llandecwyn, Gwynedd

The church with magnificent views of Snowdonia and Cardigan Bay.