Drawing by Falcon Hildred
Tabernacle Calvinistic Methodist chapel, High Street, Blaenau Ffestiniog, 1974
Tabernacle was the largest and most expensive chapel in Blaenau, seating a congregation of 950 and being valued at £10,790 in 1905. This status is clearly reflected in the grandeur of the Classical edifice, which stood on a prominent site, a landmark to the religious fervour of the slate quarry workers and their willingness to fund such remarkable building projects. Falcon says its splendour would have been a credit even to Venice. The drawing emphasises how the triangle of the pediment is echoed by the slate tip on the mountain above, and even the tangle of power lines: the pied architecture of 'worktown'. It was demolished soon after Falcon drew it in 1974.
Ref. FHA 01_133