In addition to the seven Church in Wales churches in this area, there are two chapels, each with a rich history and heritage: Cregrina Free Mission & Franksbridge Chapel.
- Cregrina Free Mission, in the hamlet of Cregrina (LD1 5SF) has services every Sunday at 2:30 pm. The service on the 2nd Sunday of the month is a Communion Service. For Cregrina Free Mission’s website click HERE
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- Franksbridge Chapel is in the village of Franksbridge (LD1 5SA). For more information contact franksbridge.chapel@gmail.com
Franksbridge Chapel ~ A Brief History
The Baptist movement in the local area was founded in 1824, at which time meetings were held in a number of local farms including the Rhewey, where several baptisms took place. The decision to build a chapel in Franksbridge was due to its central location. The original chapel was situated on a site at the bottom of the current graveyard. We are not clear whether the new chapel was required to free up space for additional burial ground or whether its size was a factor.
Current Chapel building – project started 1908 and the chapel was officially opened on 1st September 2011. A building fund was started on 16th November 1908. The engraved stones shown at the base of the front wall of the chapel denote the individuals who donated £20 to the fund.
Contract Cost: £825 Architects Fee: £40
£ 694 was collected and £200 borrowed
A lot of the work involved in moving materials was carried out voluntarily
Mr Evans, Rhiew Villa was the carpenter. Mr Speake, Builth Wells was the stone mason
The chapel was built on old land which had been filled in and not allowed time to settle properly. As a result the wall nearest the village fell out at the top.
Over the years the chapel has seen services in both morning and evening with a weekly Sunday School. Since 2016, due to falling numbers, services are limited to one communion service per month plus one family service. The chapel has also embarked on holding a Sankey evening – a songs of praise event singing the hymns used by Sankey & Moody during their evangelistic work. The chapel has also started holding community talks ; different speakers are invited to present on a theme and the local inhabitants invited to attend. There is no charge for these events and overall they have been a successful addition to the offering of the chapel.
Up until 1947 mission meetings were held at the chapel for two weeks in January, these were preceded by a week of prayer. The mission or revival meetings moved to a week in November from 1948 and subsequently two and then one service was held annually in November. The services always ended with a call to the worshipers to come forward and commit their lives to Jesus Christ and witness this through baptism. The last revival service at Franksbridge was held in November 1990.
From 1925 to 1947 the chapel held a tea and concert on Christmas Day.
The Sunday School party has been held on New Year’s Day from the early 1960’s. The children are presented with gifts by Father Christmas in recognition of their attendance in Sunday School during the year.
The chapel now has a number of special services throughout the year:
Annual Meetings – held in June to celebrate the birthday of the church not only at Franksbridge but as a whole
Sunday School Anniversary – the third Sunday in July has been the date for the Sunday School Anniversary for many years and reading through the minutes the format has been the same throughout. In 1934. the day consisted of choral items, solos and recitations and, although over recent years the Sunday School has made use of technology such as laptops, overhead projectors and CDs, the theme of praise and thanksgiving in song, drama and spoken work has continued. Over recent years the afternoon service has been devoted to the children’s presentations with a Songs of Praise in the evening. In 2011 it was decided that due to falling attendance in the evening the Anniversary would be a single afternoon service followed by tea.
Harvest Festival – takes place in September. The Sunday School holds a separate service where the children bring along their gifts which are then taken to a local Elderly Persons Home in the afternoon, where the children sing to entertain the residents.
Carol Service – The Sunday School arrange the annual Carol Service at which the children dress up to depict the nativity.
Joint Services – the chapel has a good relationship with the local churches and the Sunday School join the church for their annual Christingle Service. In 2010, 2011 & 2017, the Church has held a walk of witness of Good Friday culminating in a service at the chapel.
The chapel also meets regularly with the fellowship of Howey and Newbridge, holding combined services in each of the respective churches throughout the year.
COLWYN BENEFICE 