Property Description
Just a few minutes drive down to Hay-on-Wye and The Black Mountains, Painscastle Old Chapel is a fresh and light recently converted chapel originally built in 1828; an absolute pleasure to stay in – warm and cosy and set in the small hamlet of Painscastle with its excellent pub The Roast Ox – it is a lovely surprise on entering the chapel to find it such an excellent new kitchen and open plan living area with a brilliant wood burning stove and the great eye to design the young owner has.
This old chapel backs onto a tiny paddock with a few lambs and ewes when we visited in April. There is ample safe parking just a minutes walk down the lane opposite the post box.
The kitchen has an electric cooker and hob, microwave, fridge, dishwasher, washing machine and dryer. The sitting room has retained the high ceilings and tall high windows, it has a pine dining table and four old chapel chairs – still with the Welsh prayer books in the back ledge; new dove grey sofas and chairs and a fine wood burning stove with a great supply of logs. With reclaimed pine floors throughout, there are plenty of windows to make this a very light and pleasing space to be in.
A downstairs cloakroom with hand basin and toilet.
Up a flight of fairly steep wooden stairs to two bedrooms both with private shower/ bathrooms to
The master bedroom has a fine king sized bed.
A bathroom: with a bath with a shower over, hand basin and toilet.
The second bedroom has two attractive 2 ft 6in single beds with wooden bedheads – matching the feeling of this lovely old chapel. This room has an en-suite shower room with shower (again this is a pretty small shower and I would suggest suitable for small people), hand basin and toilet.
There is no garden but a small grassy area with a garden seat along the front of the chapel and a wide step. It was a lovely sunny afternoon when we visited and the owner was sitting outside with a cup of tea. The “no-through” lane the chapel is on leads past a farm and up to the farmhouse which then backs on to The Begwyn Hills – owned mostly by The National Trust. This is an incredibly peaceful place to stay.
The story of this Chapel is that there were two chapels in the village; eventually the small community of Painscastle realised that it did not need two chapels and so sold off the smaller one to pay for the renovations on the larger chapel which is still in use. All the members of the local community have been invited into the newly renovated chapel to see how it has changed and everyone was most impressed and pleased that the chapel was still going to be used.
From the front door there is walking straight up onto The Begwyns – a wild rolling landscape where you can walk and hardly ever see another soul; at the top of the Common is “The Roundabout” a wooded area encircled by stone wall with the most spectacular views over the whole of The Brecon Beacons National Park – and you do not have to climb a mountain to see it. The Roundabout was originally planted with trees to commemorate Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee and then was replanted in 1977 to commemorate Queen Elizabeth's Diamond Jubilee.
There is a lovely open Golf Course at Rhos Goch and plenty of horse riding at nearby Bryngwyn and around Hay-on-Wye. Trout & Salmon fishing on the River Wye at Hay-on-Wye – tickets from Wye & Usk Foundation.
Staying in Painscastle you are spoilt for choice with excellent places to eat – on your doorstep is The Roast Ox – home cooked meals with whenever possible using locally sourced ingredients that are in season. There is a friendly and welcoming ambience to the pub. Further afield there are the numerous excellent eateries in Hay-on-Wye, Foyles and The River Cafe in Glasbury and for special occasions Llangoed Hall.
Useful Information:
* All electricity and wood for the wood burning inclusive
* All linen and towels inclusive
* Parking on the lane just below the chapel
* wifi available
* TV with Freeview DVD & CD
* Sorry not suitable for pets
* Travel Cot and high chair
* Welcome pack
Hay-on-Wye 5 1/2 miles, Hereford 26 miles, Brecon 24 miles, Builth Wells 12 1/2 miles,
Llandrindod 19 miles, Clyro with a local garage and supermarket is less than 5 miles.
If you would like to speak to someone who has visited this property please ask for: Carolyn, Ceri, Elizabeth or Lucy
