ACOUSTIC TRIANGLE 2005 TOUR
CANOLFAN UCHELDRE CENTRE, HOLYHEAD, ANGLESEY
Special thanks to Mike Gould and his team.
The Ucheldre Centre, Holyhead, is now a community arts centre for
events, films, exhibitions, and other community activities. However,
until 1989, it was a Convent chapel, (belonging to a French Roman
Catholic order of nuns, the sisters of the Bon Sauveur (Good Saviour)),
which became available following the demolition in 1988 of their Convent
School; this was a castle-like structure which had dominated the skyline
of Holyhead since the beginning of the century. The Convent had closed
in 1982 and the chapel would have been pulled down too, but for the
Ucheldre project.
Whilst the Centre has been beautifully extended in a manner in keeping
with the original, its heart remains the chapel with its high fine
arched roof, and imposing side aisles. The ethereal atmosphere of the
hall always attracts special comment. The building was designed by
Professor R M Butler of Dublin, a leading architect of his day,
responsible for many public buildings in Ireland and elsewhere. He
proposed several designs, the final choice being a modernised Romanesque
style, with a tall square tower, making great use of green local stone.
Although designed in 1934 and opened in 1937, its elegant, classical
lines convey a much older impression. The work was carried out by a
local firm from Caernarfon.
The floor of the apse, as well as the altar, was made of marble, and
this has been retained, raised, and extended to form what must be one of
the few marble stages in the country. The front steps were formerly
around the sides of the altar, but they have been lifted, laid
end-to-end, and repositioned, following the line where the altar rails
once were. There was insufficient marble to cope with the new space, so
areas have been filled in using Pantelicon marble from Greece. The
bookend facings were specially selected and cut from a single block for
the Centre.
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