A community project run by the Archdiocese of Cardiff at a former Congregational chapel in the city has received an £80,000 development grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund.
The grant is the first stage of a potential award of £1,206,000 for the Cornerstone at St David’s project, which will turn the formerly Protestant Ebenezer Chapel into a heritage centre.
The funds have been given to the archdiocese to transform the chapel, which was built in 1855 and previously attended by Welsh-speaking Presbyterians.
The chapel was bought by the Church for £600,000 in May 2012 after the Archbishop of Cardiff George Stack noticed the Grade II-listed building opposite the Catholic cathedral up for sale.
The large building will now provide extra meeting rooms for the Cathedral as well as outreach projects. It has already turned a former schoolroom into a weekend clinic for those who have consumed excessive alcohol.
The project will ensure that the chapel preserves its Welsh heritage by working with local charity and community groups and running a bilingual oral history project.
Archbishop Stack welcomed the grant, heralding a new era for the chapel. “The refurbishment of the chapel is intended to preserve Welsh heritage and adapt its beautiful architecture sensitively for this new phase in its life and history,” he said.
“Lottery funding will ensure the social, cultural, architectural and religious heritage of this historic building is restored in stone and preserved in words via an oral history project.”
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