About the chapel
Capel Soar y Mynydd, a Welsh Calvinist Methodist chapel, was built on the River Camddwr in 1822 by Rev Ebenezer Richards of Tregaron and his trustees, to serve the hill farmers of the remote upper valleys. It was also used as a school until the 1940s but the great and tragic snow storm of 1947 when the Tywi valley was cut off for three months and the sheep froze to death was the final blow to the last 7 families of sheep farmers in the valley who sold out in the end to the Forestry Commission.
It is difficult for today’s visitor to realise what a thriving community lived in these parts - for example, Dolgoch in 1944 was the largest farm boasting 2,500 acres, and in that year that over 100 people attended its shearing day when 85 shearers dispatched 2,000 sheep and over 700 lambs.
The chapel lies in a high, remote, and inhospitable landscape with not a house in sight. It is a simple structure, reminiscent of the long Welsh farmhouse, incorporating both a modest chapel and a two story house. In today’s world it should lie derelict, abandoned years ago — yet it still persists, kept alive by a dedicated congregation who still climb the valley to worship where no one lives.
For many it has become a poignant symbol of Wales: Soar y Mynydd has become an idea. While the chapel echoes its forlorn fate it is still able to keep faith with its forbears and, like persistent nature itself, clings tenaciously to its beliefs: in God, and in its Welsh history and culture. Visitors from near and far, from abroad, and in all weathers, believers and non believers alike, including artists and poets, continue to make their quiet pilgrimage to this very special place. Many have been touched by the experience.
The Picturemakers are dedicated to depicting Wales' unique landscape. For this exhibition they chose the idea of Capel Soar y Mynydd where each artist has had to find a personal way of making contact with the Chapel, its history and its setting.