Historic chapel demolished despite moves to save its facade
An historic mid-Wales chapel has been destroyed after attempts to save its facade proved fruitless.
Bethel Methodist Chapel in Newtown - its latest Gothic construction almost 150 years old - has been in a state of neglect for many years.
In September the roof of the chapel collapsed, forcing the closure of a main road into Newtown. Approximately half of the roof over Bethel Chapel on New Road, formerly the A483 in Newtown, caved in overnight, sparking fears more of the building could fall on to the road.
National body Save Britain's Heritage had hoped that at least the facade of the building could be saved.
It had been hoping to work with architects and developers to create apartments behind the facade, which would have saved part of the town's heritage.
However, last week contractors moved in and in a two-day operation demolished what was left of the building, including the frontage.
Marcus Binney, president of Save Britain's Heritage, said the organisation had wanted to retain the facade to honour the architect, Richard Owens. The chapel was originally built in 1810, rebuilt in 1820 and rebuilt again in 1876 by Owens.
"Richard Owens built the 'Welsh Streets of Liverpool', which Save Britain's Heritage successfully fought to save. The seven streets were built to house the Welsh families that moved to Liverpool to work," said Mr Binney.
"There were plans to demolish them and we campaigned against that and were able to save the streets."
