Tag: Pontmorlais Chapel

Merthyr’s Chapels: Moriah Chapel, Cefn Coed

Moriah Welsh Calvinistic Methodist Chapel, Cefn Coed

At the end of the 18th century a Mr Rowland Pugh came to Cefn Coed from North Wales. He became a member of Pennsylvania (Pontmorlais) Chapel, and in time became a deacon there.

Within a few years he started a Methodist Society in his own house at Cefn Isaf, Cefn Coed and as the cause grew it became apparent that a more suitable place of worship was required and the first Moriah Chapel was built in 1807. The congregation increased and a new chapel was built in 1830, and two branches were established that became Bethlehem Chapel, Caepantywyll and Carmel Chapel, Clwydyfagwyr.

By the 1880’s it became obvious that a new chapel was needed, so the chapel was again rebuilt and was opened on 21 March 1886. A small notice of the chapel’s reopening appeared in the Merthyr Express on 3 April 1886 which is transcribed below:

“MORIAH CALVINISTIC METHODIST CHAPEL

The Opening services of this chapel were held on the 21st and 22nd ult. when the Revs J Lewis, Cilgerran; T Davies, Treorchy and T C Phillips, Abercarn preached eloquent sermons to large congregations. Collections were made in each service towards the building fund which amounted to over £200. The church at Moriah now posess undoubtedly the neatest and prettiest place of worship in the place.”

In 1908 a controversy occurred. The minister at Moriah at the time, Rev D Watts-Lewis, officiated at the memorial service for Rev Dr Thomas Rees, former minister at Pontmorlais Chapel and a very eminent man in the Welsh Calvinistic Methodist Church. However, shortly after this he announced his intention to resign as minister of the chapel and the Calvinistic Methodist Church and join the Church of England. He was accepted into the Church of England in June 1908 and immediately became a curate at Skewen.

The membership at Moriah declined steadily after the Second World War, and by the mid 1960’s the chapel closed. The building was demolished in 1972.

Merthyr’s Chapels: Park Chapel

Park English Baptist Chapel

In 1881, a disagreement occurred at Pontmorlais Chapel, and a number of the members left there and began their own cause, eventually building a small chapel next to the Morlais Brook at the bottom of the ‘British Tip’, calling it Abermorlais Chapel. By 1885 however, the dispute was resolved and the congregation at Abermorlais Chapel returned to Pontmorlais.

At this time, about 70 members of the congregation left High Street Chapel to form their own church. When the Methodists decided to return to Pontmorlais Chapel they sold the building to the Baptists for £1,060 who established Morlais Chapel on 27 September 1885. In June 1886, the church was accepted into the Glamorgan and Carmarthen English Baptist Association.

In 1899, Rev E Aubrey (right) was inducted as the new minister at the old Morlais Chapel.  Under his ministry the congregation prospered, and it soon became apparent that the congregation at the old Morlais Chapel had grown to such an extent that a new chapel was required.

Land was acquired in The Walk and a chapel, designed by Messrs George Morgan & Sons of Carmarthen was built at a cost of £2750, with the organ, furniture and fittings costing an additional £1750. The work was carried out by Mr J Morgan of Blaenavon. £700 of this amount was raised from the sale of Morlais Chapel to the Salvation Army.

As the Salvation Army, having no permanent place of worship, were keen to move into Morlais Chapel it was decided that the school room at the rear of the chapel should be completed first so that services could be held there pending completion of the chapel.

The schoolroom was completed in January 1904, and on 17 November 1904, Park Chapel was officially opened by Mr D A Thomas, later to become Lord Rhondda. On the day of the opening, the members processed from Morlais Chapel to the new chapel.

The opening ceremony at Park Chapel

In August 1906, Rev Aubrey decided to leave the chapel, and the following year Rev J Lloyd Williams was inducted as minister in May 1907, having led two very successful services at the chapel following Rev Aubrey’s departure. During his 29 years as minister, the congregation continued to go from strength to strength, and during his ministry the entire debt on the chapel was paid off.

In 1950, Rev Iorwerth Budge came to Park Chapel to preach and he was inducted as the minister the following year. Rev Budge was destined to remain as the minister of Park Chapel for 45 years. Rev Budge immediately showed a great interest in the work of the Sunday School, and it was through his interest that Sunday Schools were set up in the new housing estates that were being built in Merthyr. The first was built in Galon Uchaf and was opened on 19 September 1959, and a second was built in the Gurnos Estate and was opened on 31 January 1976.

In 2004 it was discovered that three culverts that ran beneath the chapel had, over many years, washed away most of the foundations of the chapel. A meeting was held to decide whether to demolish the chapel or to undertake extensive renovation work to stabilise the chapel. It was decided to carry out the renovations. The culverts were diverted and the foundations strengthened.

The schoolroom at the rear of the chapel had to be demolished and a new room was constructed at the rear of the balcony. These renovations cost almost £500,000.

Park Chapel still has a thriving, and indeed growing congregation.

Merthyr’s Chapels: Adulam Chapel

Adulam Welsh Independent Chapel, Merthyr

In 1829, David Williams, an elder at Pontmorlais Chapel, became dissatisfied with the form of worship at the chapel and led a breakaway group of worshippers and began holding meetings, originally at the Bush Hotel, Caedraw.

Mr Thomas Powell, Sadler, High Street was one of the staunch supporters of David Williams, It was Thomas Powell who negotiated the land required, and the finance for building their own place of worship. Representation was made to the land owner William Thomas Esq. of the Court Estate to lease a parcel of land to build a chapel for 99 years for the sum of 2½ pence per annum. When sufficient money was raised, a chapel to be called Adulam was built in 1831 on Tramroadside North at a cost of £250.

A painting of Merthyr from the early 1800s. The original Adulam Chapel and its graveyard can be seen at the bottom right
Rev David Williams

The ministers of Zoar and Bethesda were opposed to David Williams and his people, and many of the ministers outside Merthyr felt the same, but several favoured him and went to Adulam to preach, and invited him to their pulpits, and eventually in Tretwr Assembly, he and the people under his care were recognized as a regular church. The chapel applied to the Methodist Union for membership but were refused; but then applied to, and were accepted into the Independent Union. David Williams was duly installed as Adulam’s first minister.

The church was burdened with a large debt and little effort was made to clear it during David Williams’ lifetime. The cause did not increase much. The fact that it was an old Methodist cause meant that Congregationalists who came to the area did not feel drawn towards it, especially in view of the fact that there were Congregational chapels in the area already. Mr Williams did not live long after joining the Congregationalists, dying on 12 June 1832.

Following Rev Williams’ death, the chapel depended on visiting ministers from other local chapels until Rev Joshua Thomas was ordained on 12 April 1833. Under Rev Thomas, the congregation at Adulam began to grow. Joshua Thomas was also instrumental in the starting of the causes at Bryn Sion Chapel in Dowlais and Horeb Chapel in Penydarren.

By 1856 the congregation had grown to such an extent, that when Lower Thomas Street was being built, it was decided to build a larger chapel with the entrance now on Lower Thomas Street. The new chapel was completed in 1857 at a cost of £1200. To save money, the chapel wasn’t built on the street, but set back behind two houses with a small courtyard in front of the entrance. The new chapel also incorporated a small vestry and stables for visiting ministers which were situated beneath the chapel. The stables were later converted into two small cottages.

The interior of Adulam Chapel

Within five years of the new chapel being built, Rev Abraham Matthews was inducted as the minister at Adulam Chapel. Rev Matthews became the minister of the chapel in 1862, but he left Adulam in 1865 when he and his family left Wales and became one of the first group of settlers to start up the Welsh Colony in Patagonia.

Unlike many other chapels in Merthyr, Adulam was one of those chapels frequented by working class worshipers; its membership did not include an array of financial benefactors and throughout its history struggled to maintain its religious survival. Following the death of Rev Daniel T Williams in 1876, Adulam could not afford to pay for a new minister until 1883 when Rev D C Harris became minister. One of the first things he did on becoming minister was to set about alleviating the debt on the chapel. In 1884 he sent out appeals for aid to relieve Adulam’s financial burden to every household in the area – see above right. It is interesting to note that the name of the chapel is spelt in the English way with two ‘L’s rather than the more usual Welsh way with a single ‘L’.

By the 1960s, due to falling attendances, services began being held in the vestry beneath the chapel. In 1972, the congregation had dwindled to just nine people, and the sad decision was reached that the chapel should close. The final service was held on 24 September 1972. Following its closure, several plans were put forward to use the building for a number of different projects, but none of these came to fruition. By the 1990s the building had fallen into such a derelict state that it had to be demolished.

Adulam Chapel in the 1980s

A new development of flats has been built on the site of the chapel and is called Adulam Court.

Merthyr’s Chapels: Saron Chapel, Troedyrhiw

Saron Welsh Independent Chapel, Troedyrhiw

Photo courtesy of the Alan George Archive

In 1820 a Sunday School was started in Troedyrhiw and held in various houses. In 1822 Mr & Mrs Robert Davies moved to the area and opened their house to the Sunday School. Mr Davies was a member of Pontmorlais Chapel, and Mrs Davies a member of Bethesda, Merthyr, so the school was jointly run by the Methodists and Independents. Within a few years the Sunday School moved to the house of Mr W Morgan, and became wholly run by the Independents.

Due to the success of the Sunday School it was decided to build a chapel. In 1833 a piece of land was bought from Sir  Josiah John Guest, and a chapel was built at a cost of £409.5s.11d. The chapel opened on 10 February 1835.

For the first few years of its existence, Saron was still considered to be a branch of Bethesda Chapel, and the services were taken by Rev Methusalem Jones of Bethesda. When Rev Jones died, the link between Saron and Bethesda was broken and Saron became an independent church, and Rev David Thomas was ordained as Saron’s first minister on 19 November 1840.

Rev Thomas proved very successful, and under his leadership the congregation grew steadily. Sadly, however, his health began to decline and Rev Thomas died on 6 October 1843. The following year Rev William Morgan was inducted as Saron’s second minister. He would eventually serve as the minister at Saron for 32 years.

Under Rev Morgan the congregation flourished, and it soon became obvious that the chapel was too small for the ever growing congregation. It was decided that a new chapel was required, but they were denied land for it by Sir John Guest. However, they came to realise that Mr Wyndham Lewis was the true owner of the land, and he pledged land in his will with enough land for a graveyard. A new chapel was built at a cost of £700. In 1886 the vestry hall seating 250 was built at the rear of the chapel.

The interior of Saron in the early 1900s. Photo courtesy of the Alan George Archive.

During Rev Morgan’s ministry, a few members from Saron started a Sunday School in Abercanaid. Such was the success of this venture that it was decided to build a chapel there which became Sion Chapel.

Although suffering from asthma, Rev William Morgan (left) served as the minister at Saron for 32 years until his death on 31 January 1876 at the age of 64. Such was the esteem and affection in which he was held, that the deacons of the chapel wrote to the Home Secretary for special permission to bury Rev Morgan under the pulpit of the chapel.

Saron closed in 1983 and was finally demolished in 1990.

In 2009, a group of volunteers from Troedyrhiw set up a group to rescue the graveyard of Saron Chapel. The graveyard is quite extensive; in March 1879, the Merthyr Burial Board had reported that there were 433 graves in the graveyard with room for 1299 interments. There had already been 1125 burials so there was room for a further 174.

The graveyard was in a terrible condition due to almost 30 years of neglect, and was a blot on the village of Troedyrhiw. The group, which called itself ‘Friends of Saron’, produced draft proposals to turn the dilapidated and overgrown graveyard into a community asset by creating a low maintenance Memorial and Wildlife Garden.

Merthyr Chapels: Pontmorlais Chapel

The next chapel we are going to look at was one of Merthyr’s oldest, largest and most important chapels – Pontmorlais Calvinistic Methodist Chapel.

Pontmorlais in the early 190’s. Pontmorlais Chapel can be seen behind the shops in the centre of the photo.

In the late 18th Century a group of men began holding prayer meetings in the house of Mr John Davies just above the site of the chapel. As the group grew they moved to a house on the site of the Morlais Castle public house in Pontmorlais. The number of worshippers increased and in 1793 the congregation were in a position to build a small chapel which was called Pennsylvania.

In 1803 the first Methodist Revival took place and subsequently the congregation grew rapidly, and by 1805 a new chapel was built. Between 1805 and 1810 the chapel was also used as a school during the week. During this period, the chapel was considered to be one of the most important Calvinistic Methodist chapels in Wales, and attracted some of the most important preachers of the era.

The chapel was again extended in 1821 and following another revival in 1829 a very large new chapel was built behind the High Street, with access via a small courtyard between the houses built onto the chapel. The architect of the new chapel was the minister at the time, Rev Evan Harris (right).

The programme for the 1911 Cymanfa Ganu at Pontmorlais Chapel

In 1840 the chapel was renamed Pontmorlais Chapel. All the way through to the mid 20th Century, Pontmorlais remained one of the most important chapels in the town. Holding up to 1,500 people it was also used for many concerts, and the Calvinistic Methodist Cymanfa Ganu was held at the chapel on the first Monday in May from 1874 – the first Cymanfa Ganu to be held in Merthyr was at Pontmorlais Chapel.

By the early 1950’s the congregation had dwindled considerably and in 1954, the chapel closed.

After its closure, the building was taken over by the Blind Institute as a workshop until it was destroyed by fire in 1981. The site is now occupied by Voluntary Action Merthyr Tydfil.

The entrance to Pontmorlais Chapel. Photo courtesy of http://www.alangeorge.co.uk/index.htm.

Memories of Old Merthyr

We continue our serialisation of the memories of Merthyr in the 1830’s by an un-named correspondent to the Merthyr Express, courtesy of Michael Donovan.

We must, however, return to the Canton Tea Shop opposite Castle Street, and keep up that side of the road. There were but few shops on that side, the majority being cottages. There was no opening through to the tram road, but courts of some kind existed. The large chapel (Pontmorlais Chapel) was building or about being finished, and next above was a coal yard of the Dowlais Company, chiefly for the supply of coal to their own workmen. Mr John Roberts had charge there, I should say, perhaps, that the coal was brought down by the old tramroad, and there was a short branch into the yard from it.

Some ten or a dozen cottages intervened between the cottage of the coal yard and the one that projected towards the road. This had a few poplar trees around it, and was years after, I cannot say how long previously, occupied by Mr Morgan, a stone and monumental mason, now in business on Brecon Road.

Morgan’s Stonemason’s in Pontmorlais. Photo courtesy of http://www.alangeorge.co.uk/index.htm

On the upper side of this was an opening to the tramroad, which was not above 80 or 100 feet from the High Street, and then a painter and glazier’s shop kept by Mr Lewis, who afterwards removed a short distance into the Brecon Road, and the shop became that of a saddler (Powell by name). Adjoining this was the Morlais Castle Inn, of which Mr & Mrs Gay were the host and hostess. Mr E. R. Gay, the dentist, of High Street, is the youngest, and it is thought, the only survivor of the family, which consisted of three boys and two girls.

A narrow shop intervened and the turnpike gate was reached. Only a few yards beyond a cast iron bridge spanned the Morlais Brook. On the left a person named Miles lived. His son, Dr Miles, increased its size and subsequently practised there.

One road now leads off to Dowlais, and the other towards Brecon Road, or as it was generally called, the Grawen, but immediately in front is a wall 10 or 12 feet high there, but as the road on either side ascends is tapered down on both sides. The old Tramroad from the Dowlais and Penydarren Works to their wharves on the Canal side near Pontstorehouse ran over this embankment, and a cottage nestling in the trees there was occupied by Mr Rees Jones. No other residence of this kind existed on the Penydarren Park except the house itself and its three lodges. At one time there were some steps leading up to the Park near the turning and junction of roads, one going to the Grawen and the other going to Pontstorehouse, but that gap was built up, and the only public entrance then became that close to the Lodge in Brecon Road by the pond.

The old steps leading to Penydarren Park (now the site of the Y.M.C.A. Photo courtesy of http://www.alangeorge.co.uk/index.htm

To be continued at a later date……

Sunday School Demonstration

From the Merthyr Express 110 years ago today…

Merthyr Express – 21 May 1910