Rev T B Evans – The Melting Pot

Merthyr’s Chapels: Bethlehem Chapel, Pontsticill

Bethlehem Welsh Independent Chapel, Pontsticill

In 1826 several people who were followers of the Independent movement in Pontsticill started holding meetings in a local house, and they called on Rev T B Evans of Ynysgau Chapel to lead their meetings.

Within two years the small congregation had grown sufficiently for them to consider building their own chapel. With the support of Rev Evans, on 10 October 1898 they leased a plot of land from a local landowner – Philip Watkins, and built a small chapel which was opened for worship on 4 February 1829.

The first minister of Bethlehem was William David, a lay preacher at Ynysgau Chapel who was subsequently ordained and inducted as the minister of Bethlehem in 1830.

Sometime during 1913, the congregation at the chapel learned that the part of the Taf Fechan Valley on which the chapel was built was due to be flooded in order to build the new reservoir. The trustees decided to build a new chapel in the centre of Pontsticill. The Merthyr Tydfil Corporation gave the trustees a piece of land on which to build the new chapel and also £1,500 in payment for the old chapel. The new chapel was built in 1924.

Members of the congregation after the last service at the old chapel on 14 September 1925

By the late 1960’s the congregation had severely dwindled, so in 1968, the trustees reluctantly decided to close the chapel. The building was subsequently sold and converted to a private house.

The ruins of the old chapel still remain beneath the Taf Fechan reservoir, and can sometimes be seen at times when the water level of the reservoir is very low.

Merthyr’s Chapels: Twynyrodyn Chapel

The next chapel we are going to look at is a chapel that has been somewhat forgotten – Twynyrodyn Unitarian Chapel.

When Rev T B Evans was appointed as minister at Ynysgau, he was considered far too conservative by the Arminian members of the congregation, and they lodged a protest. The matter was taken to court, but the Arminians lost their appeal and left Ynysgau.

In 1814 they began meeting in a room at the Patriot Inn near Ynysgau with Rev Thomas Evans taking the services. In the following few years, discussions were held regarding the opening of a Unitarian Chapel in Merthyr.

In 1820, therefore, when the congregation was forced to leave the Patriot Inn, a committee was appointed and within a year, Twynyrodyn Unitarian Chapel was opened in Court Street, and Rev David Rees was appointed as the first minister there.

After Rev Rees left in 1823, Rev David John became minister in 1826. By the 1840’s David John began expressing sympathy for the Chartist Movement and the congregation, not comfortable with his views began to leave the chapel. Due to the severe drop in the congregation, the chapel closed in 1847. Rev John thus left the chapel, but the following year, the chapel reopened and new ministers were appointed.

By the beginning of the 20th Century the old chapel was becoming obsolete and the congregation decided that they should build a new chapel. It was decided to build the new chapel in Lower Thomas Street, and the architect chosen was Mr A E Johnson who designed a very opulent, striking gothic building. With the building of the new chapel, Twynyrodyn Chapel became vacant until it was bought and became the Gospel Hall.

The chapel was demolished in 1969 during the redevelopment of the town.

The name plaque from Twynyrodyn Chapel which is now located at Hen-dy-Cwrdd Chapel in Cefn-Coed.

Rosser Beynon

Here is an article about a very important, but largely forgotten man in Merthyr’s musical history – Rosser Beynon.

Rosser Beynon was born in Glyn Neath in 1811, the oldest child of John and Elizabeth Beynon. In 1815 the Beynon family moved to Merthyr Tydfil where John Beynon secured a job at the Cyfarthfa Ironworks. Upon moving to Merthyr the family became members of Zoar Chapel.

Rosser Beynon began working at the Ironworks at the age of eight, but he also began attending a school conducted by a Mr MacFarlane. As well as this he also began teaching himself music and it was in this field he immersed himself and it is said that he would lose many hours of sleep trying to master some musical problem.

At the age of 18, Beynon was given the responsibility of training the choir at Zoar Chapel, and he remained in this position until he was given sole responsibility for conducting the choir in 1835. In about 1840, he began giving music lessons in his house in Bethesda Street, and his reputation was such that he was asked to travel all over South Wales to give lessons. In addition, he was invited all over Wales to adjudicate competitions for compositions of hymns and anthems, and became the musical editor of ‘Y Diwygiwr’, the monthly periodical produced by the Independent Union of South Wales. Between 1845 and 1848 he published ‘Telyn Seion’ a collection of hymns and anthems by many prominent composers.

In 1850, Rosser Beynon was among the 58 people who left Zoar to move to Ynysgau Chapel to bolster the congregation at the latter chapel following the crisis associated with the decline of Rev T B Evans. Upon arrival at Ynysgau, he immediately took over the leadership of the choir and remained in charge of the choir until 1872.

Throughout his adult life, Rosser Beynon continued to work as a miner in the Dowlais Pits and In December 1875, while supervising repairs in the mine, he contracted a cold which subsequently developed into bronchitis and pleurisy. Rosser Beynon died on 3 January 1876 at the age of 65. He was buried in Cefn Coed Cemetery and the inscription on his tomb reads:

Er Coffadwriaeth am
Rosser Beynon (Asaph Glan Taf), Merthyr Tydfil
A fu farw Ionawr 3ydd, 1876,
Yn 65 mlwydd oed.
Yma yn isel mae un o weision
Miswig a’i mawredd y’mysg y meirwon;
Canad dirwest, ac athraw cantorion;
Hunodd un Ngwalia dan nawdd angelion,
Ac yn Iesu cysga’i noson – a’i ffydd
Roes aur-obenydd i Rosser Beynon