Bethesda Chapel – The Melting Pot

Merthyr’s Chapels: Gellideg Chapel

Gellideg Welsh Independent Chapel

The cause at Gellideg was started when a number of members of Bethesda Chapel, amongst them John Roger, Thomas Watkins, Edward Hughes, Rees Price, Thomas Morris, and David Jones started holding Sunday Schools and prayer meetings in local houses.

It soon became apparent that they needed somewhere more practical, so they approached Robert T Crawshay who gave them the land free of charge, and also provided the building materials at low price. He also contributed £5 towards the cost of building a schoolroom.

The Trustees of Bethesda Chapel took responsibility for the schoolroom at Gellideg after its completion in May 1861. The function of the schoolroom was to cater for the religious education of the district. Once the building was erected it could now be used for other activities relating to religious involvement such as Sunday School, mid week Prayer meetings; thus the numbers of people attending the schoolroom increased.

As the congregation grew, the elders at Bethesda Chapel decided that the members that attended Bethesda could now hold their own Sunday services at Gellideg with the help of the officers of the mother church.

Rev R Gwesyn Jones, minister of Bethesda Chapel, ministered to the congregation at Gellideg until he emigrated to America in 1867. When Rev R Gwesyn Jones left, the congregation at Gellideg approached Rev James Evans, minister at Zion, Craig y Fargoed to be their minister. He accepted and was inducted in May 1867. He continued as minister until 1878 when he was forced to retire due to ill health. Since then Gellideg has had no permanent minister.

Following its closure as an Independent Chapel in 1995, Gellideg Chapel was used for a time by the Nation Changers Church, but as of 2012 is once again empty.

Merthyr’s Chapels: Bethania Chapel, Dowlais

Bethania Welsh Independent Chapel, Dowlais

In the early part of the 19^th Century, members of the Independent chapels in Merthyr who were living in Dowlais began holding meetings at various houses around the town.

When Josiah John Guest arrived in Dowlais and expanded the Dowlais Works, the population increased to an extent that the need arose for the Independent worshippers in Dowlais to have their own chapel. The old Bethel Chapel became vacant in 1822 so services could be held there on Sunday evenings. Rev Methusalem Jones of Bethesda Chapel in Merthyr was instrumental in starting the cause in Dowlais and he had oversight of the congregation for a time until he had a difference of opinion with some of the congregation and left them. Rev Samuel Evans of Zoar Chapel then took over the care of the congregation.

Within a year however, it was realised that the small Bethel Chapel was not adequate for the congregation, so land was found and a chapel was built in 1823 for the cost of £444 and called Bethania.

In 1826 Rev Thomas Jones, a student from Newtown, was invited to Bethania and was ordained as minister of the chapel on 23 March 1826. The congregation increased rapidly and the chapel was rebuilt in 1827. However, within a short time a serious disagreement occurred at the chapel which resulted in Rev Jones and several of the congregation leaving and starting their own cause; this eventually became Bryn Sion Chapel. Rev Samuel Evans once again took charge of the chapel and stayed here until his death.

Following Rev Samuel Evans’ death, Rev John Hughes was inducted as Bethania’s minister in December 1833. Under his leadership the congregation grew rapidly and in 1838 it was decided to build a new larger chapel and the chapel was rebuilt at a cost of £1000 by Mr Thomas Sandbrook, a member of the chapel.

In 1849, a serious cholera epidemic broke out in Merthyr with 1,682 deaths in Merthyr and Dowlais alone. In the aftermath of this epidemic, a religious revival occurred and despite its huge size, Bethania Chapel could not accommodate the huge increase in the congregation. It was decided that it would be impractical to build an even larger chapel, so a new chapel was built nearby called Gwernllwyn.

In 1855 a schoolroom was built at Pwll-yr-hwyaid, and this was followed by schoolrooms at Gellifaelog and Caeharris.

Bethania Chapel Caeharris Schoolroom. Photo courtesy of the Alan George Archive.

In 1883 the interior of the chapel was renovated with a new pulpit and seating costing £1350; and a new organ installed costing £350. In 1886, the vestry was constructed behind the chapel. Major renovations were again carried out on the chapel in 1896 when the main entrance of the chapel was altered and a large porch built, and the chapel was we see it today took shape. These renovations cost £500.

The chapel closed in 1999, but in 2012 the building was renovated by the Victory Church who now hold their services there.

Christmas in Merthyr Tydfil A Hundred Years Ago – part 2

Christmas a hundred years ago would have been a more religions event than today.

Both chapels and churches would have special services and carol singing on Christmas Eve and the family would turn out for a service on Christmas Day itself. The timing of the Christmas dinner might depend on what was known about the preacher and how long his sermons usually took. Chapels would attract with wonderful singing and many other festive events. In 1922 the annual Bethania Eisteddfod took place on Christmas day with a splendid attendance and a keen competition. Penywern Chapel also held an Eisteddfod which was very popular. The Bryn Sion Eisteddfod was an enjoyable event on the afternoon and evening of Christmas Day and a good gramophone with excellent records were a modern addition. There was also an Eisteddfod in Bethesda Chapel on Boxing Day. The time-honoured practice of carol singing was an important tradition, especially in a town such as Merthyr Tydfil with its many choirs of all kinds. The carol singing was especially popular when it consisted of popular Welsh carols.

Following Christmas day Frank T. James delivered a talk in Cyfarthfa Castle on the Romans in Merthyr Tydfil.

Christmas is all about family gatherings. However, whereas today the celebrations are often centred around the presents and multimedia, in the 1922s Christmas was much more home-made entertainments and taking advantage of time not spent working. A hundred years ago there were an amazing number of social events for people to attend in the Merthyr Tydfil area on Christmas Day itself. Football games were played and for many it was a good opportunity to go to the cinema. All the many cinemas in Merthyr Tydfil put on a special Christmas programme. The Merthyr Electric Theatre changed its programme after Xmas to present a new programme on Boxing Day. The Palace had a continuous show on from 5.30 with a special matinee on Boxing Day at 2.30. The Penydarren Cosy opened Xmas Day at 2pm with ‘Moth and Rust’ starring Sybil Thorndike.

A fancy- dress masked carnival and fourth annual whist drive and carnival was held at the Drill Hall on the 30^th of December in aid of the National Institute for the Blind

There were many differences between Christmas a hundred years ago and today. For instance, there was no Royal Speech as in 1922 the Royal Xmas Day Speech had not yet started. In fact, November 1922 was the date of the founding of the BBC. In Merthyr Tydfil weddings took place on Christmas morning. This might seem odd these days but a hundred years ago Christmas was seen as a good time to get married as it was a day when the family would be free from work and able to enjoy the celebrations.

D Jones Dickinson Factory in Dowlais. Photo courtesy of the Alan George Archive

Christmas, as always, was a time for children but in 1922 it was an occasion to make sure children were well fed and schools opened on Christmas day to assist with this. In 1922 500 children attended the 42nd annual Christmas breakfast at Abermorlais School. Children were given tea, bread and butter, currant and seed cake and so on. There was carol singing and a Father Christmas. On leaving each child was given 4 buns, 2 oranges, 2 apples and something to read. All this was paid for by businesses and individuals in the town. D. Jones Dickinson of Dowlais contributed 56 pounds of cake. On Christmas night, teachers, older pupils, and former scholars gathered together for tea and a long programme of singing and recitations. Winter sales, such as that of R.T. Jones, did not start until 5th January.

There were many friends of the poor in Merthyr Tydfil. Christmas would not be Christmas without remembering the Merthyr Workhouse and trying to give its inmates a good day to enjoy when their worries could all be forgotten. ‘Keeping Christmas’ was important, and the Merthyr Express editorial expressed the feeling that people in Merthyr will celebrate Christmas as in past years. However, ‘There will be, nevertheless, a number of people, many more than we like to contemplate, without the means at their command of keeping the anniversary as could be wished. There is ever a great warmth of generosity in our midst which never fails to respond at these times with the means for assisting the less fortunate fellow members of the innumerable human family to do honour to the day’.

Over the Christmas period in 1922 there were 278 men in the workhouse, 195 women and 59 children. It was regarded as important that these all be given a good day and everyone was expected to participate in the general festivities of the season. On the festive day breakfast was served in the Workhouse at 7.00. Mr Morgan attended as Father Christmas and played the organ in the dining hall before he also visited the wards for the old and infirm dressed as Santa Claus. The dinner provided by the Guardians was roast beef, pork, potatoes, vegetables, and plum pudding, served with sparkling water. Oranges and apples were handed out to all. John Morgan again ‘ kept the diners in roars of laughter with his jovial fun’. It was his 29th appearance at this annual treat. The Rev Pugh and many of the Guardians attended. The Salvation Army played selections of music in various parts of the Institution and the Infirmary Dining Hall, Infirm Wards and other areas were very nicely decorated by the staff.

A plan of the Merthyr Workhouse in the 1800s

In Dowlais the inmates of Pantyscallog House were all treated by Dr Stuart Cresswell to his usual gift of two geese for Christmas Dinner. Tea and special Xmas cake was served in the afternoon. Each male inmate received 1 oz of tobacco and a new pipe and females who used snuff were given some. A rocking horse and toys were donated for the children and so were cakes and pastry, chocolates, and sweets. Magazines for the inmates were also donated by the Guardians and local people in the town, such as Mr Howfield and Mr Rubenstein. On Boxing Day the two large trees donated by Mr Seymour Berry and heavily decorated with toys were stripped and children were given the various items. The wealthier citizens of the town were expected to ensure that poorer members of society enjoyed Christmas treats and in 1922 there was a real element of sharing and helping others.

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

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.

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.

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’s Chapels: Zoar Chapel

Zoar Welsh Independent Chapel

In 1794 a group of worshippers dissatisfied with the form of worship at Ynysgau Chapel left to start their own cause, and met in the Long Room of the Crown Inn; paying £6 a year for the hire of the room. In 1797 the congregation asked Mr Howell Powell of Newport to come and minister to them, and within a year they decided to build their own chapel.

An extensive piece of land was acquired to build a new chapel and the building began in 1798. The land that was acquired stretched from the main road to the Morlais Brook, and was leased for the sum of 12 guineas per annum, but the congregation could not pay that sum of money. Consequently, Mr Henry Thomas or Harri’r Blawd as he was frequently called, took the lease from them and gave them the land on which the present chapel is now built for a rent of £3.7s.

Despite this, the congregation still struggled to find the money to build the chapel, but thanks to a number of donations, the chapel was finally completed in 1803. With the new chapel completed, the members asked Rev Daniel Lewis to become their first minister.

From the outset of his ministry, Rev Lewis was determined to clear the chapel’s debt and thus travelled to London to raise money. On his return however, he presented the chapel with a list of his expenses incurred during his trip. Several of the members objected to the amount of the expenses and instigated an investigation by several ministers from other church. The investigation exonerated Rev Lewis, but those members who had instigated the investigation were unhappy the result and left to start their own cause, which eventually became Bethesda Chapel.

Within two years of this controversy, Rev Lewis decided to leave the chapel, and in 1810 Rev Samuel Evans (right) was ordained as minister, and it was under his ministry that the chapel began to prosper and eventually became one of the most important chapels in the area.

With Rev Evans’ influence the congregation grew rapidly, and in 1825 a new chapel was built at a cost £600. The membership increased steadily, but sadly Rev Samuel Evans died on 27 June 1833 at the age of 56.

For two years following Rev Evans’ death the chapel was without a minister as the members felt that it would be impossible to find someone qualified enough to fill the place of “twysog a’r gwr mawr oedd wedi syrthio” (the prince and great man who had fallen).

However, before the end of 1835, Rev Benjamin Owen (right) from Pembrokeshire was invited to become minister of the chapel. Rev Owen proved to be a worthy successor to Samuel Evans, and the chapel went from strength to strength.

By 1840 the congregation had once again grown considerably and it was decided to once again build a new chapel. Rev Owen was himself a gifted architect, and he designed the new building. The stonework was completed by Messrs Thomas Williams and David Richards, and the woodwork by John Gabe. The new chapel, one of the biggest in Wales, was completed in 1842 at a cost of £2300.

In 1849 Merthyr was hit by a devastating cholera epidemic in which 1,682 people died in Merthyr and Dowlais alone. In the aftermath of this, a religious revival occurred in the town and hundreds of people joined the congregation at Zoar, with 120 people actually being accepted into the church on one Sunday alone.

Due to the increase of numbers, in 1854 it was decided to build two schoolrooms at a cost of £800 – one in Caedraw and one in Pwllyrwhiad. In 1867 another large schoolroom was built in front of the chapel. Two houses were bought to make room for the building and the schoolroom was built at a cost of £550. In 1907, another large schoolroom was built at Queens Road at a cost of £750.

By 2009, the membership of the chapel had dwindled to just six people, and it was reluctantly decided to close the chapel.

The chapel is now listed Grade II, as being of Special Architectural and Historic Interest.

The future of the chapel is ensured as it has been bought by Canolfan a Menter Gymraeg Merthyr Tudful and has been given a grant pledge of £527,000 from the Heritage Lottery Fund to transform the Chapel and Vestry buildings into a centre for performing arts and community activities. The project has also been supported with £300,000 from the Heads of the Valleys programme.

The new complex opened in 2011 and it is now a highly regarded and very important hub in the town.

The interior of Zoar Chapel just before it was converted into Canolfan Soar

A Ghostly Tale

by Thomas Bray

Seeing that it’s Hallowe’en (‘tis the season to be spooky, etc), I have written this extract of a ghost story regarding Bethesda Chapel. It concerns a ghostly funeral in 1879, not seen but heard. Here is a description from a witness, a certain gentleman of the name of Wilkins:

My wife was ill, and her sister and myself were sitting with her. We had left her in bed for a little while, and had gone downstairs, and were sitting by the fireside. It was midnight. The house was one of a long row. Not a hundred yards from our was an old chapel with a graveyard in the rear, and access to the yard was by means of an iron gate leading from the road. Well, we were sitting by the fire, I was resting my head in my hand, when all at once there came a sound of distant singing, as at a funeral. At first it was faint, but gradually it increased in volume, and the steps of a great number of persons could be distinctly heard, with the rustle such as you would hear when many are passing.

I looked at my sister-in-law, and she as intently as me, and we both arose,
went to the door, opened it, and looked out upon the street. Still we heard the singing and the rustle of a large crowd, but not a soul to be seen. The moonlight shone upon the street. The tramp continued up to the gate of the chapel of Bethesda, and then it ceased. That night my wife died, and a few days after that the funeral procession passed from the house to the graveyard of Bethesda.

It is here that I bid you all a very good night. Oh, and happy Hallowe’en!

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 now, however, resume from the junction of Brecon Road and follow the one with the Tramroad on or alongside. Beyond on the right-hand for some distance were cottages; they had small gardens in front, but not one had a back door. The level of the field would probably range from three to ten feet higher than the ground floor of the dwelling.

After these cottages was the Cambrian Inn, and then Bryant’s Brewery, which had malthouses also, but had all ceased to to work ere I can recall it. This Mr Bryant was then old, and, I think, migrated to Cefn near Bridgend, and identified himself in the coal getting. Quarry Row is the opening if we continue to the right, but we next pass the grocery shop of Mr Charles. There were some more cottages, also a shop or two, and the Jackson’s Bridge public house on the bank of the Taff was the last of that side.

On the left, from where the Tramroad became a portion of the road, some few cottages under the tip, then the Bethesda Chapel lying back, and some cottages again by the side of the Tramroad, and, unless I err, some down near the bottom of the tip. It was in some of these houses or cottages very important persons resided, they were the acting parish constables who lived there.

There were three that can be recalled – two of the name Williams. There were ‘Billy the Balca’ and his brother Tom, of course of the same place; the surname of the other has gone, but he was known as ‘John Keep her Down’, from his method of dealing with corpses in the dreadful time of the cholera visitation. No doubt they had rather a rough time sometimes. Drunken brawls were not unusual, but there was then no ‘Bruce’s Act’ demanding their attention as to the hour of closing.

The good residence below was occupied by Mr David James, who carried on the business of a tanner. His yard was close by, having an entrance at the end of the garden. Mr William Davis, the eldest son of Mr David Davis, of the (then) London House, Hirwaun, was apprenticed to learn the tannery trade here, but after a while that was abandoned and the sale of coal occupied his attention. Another apprentice to Mr James named O’Connell, was a nephew of great Daniel, the Irish agitator.

Below the opening was the Black Bull, having its own brewery connected with it in the rear. Cottages followed a short way, a grocer’s shop, kept by Mr Samuel Thomas, afterwards of Scyborwen (sic), and then only a few cottages brought us to the Jackson’s Bridge again.

A portion of the 1851 Public Health Map showing the area in question

To be continued at a later date……

Merthyr’s Chapels: Salem Chapel, Heolgerrig

The next chapel we look at is Salem Welsh Independent Chapel in Heolgerrig.

In 1838 a group of three men:- Jenkin Prosser, Moses Richards and Thomas Jones began to hold prayer meetings at their homes, and decided that they should start a Sunday School. Within two years the congregation grew to such an extent that they decided to build their own chapel.

Permission was given by Evan Evans, owner of the Six Bells Inn to build on a piece of land behind the Inn for an annual rental of one shilling. The cost of the building was kept to minimum due to materials being donated and labour given free, and as most of the congregation were also members of Bethesda Chapel, the latter chapel also backed the project.

The small chapel, which they called Bethlehem, measured just nine yards long by six yards wide was completed in June 1840 at the cost of just £120. The chapel remained a branch of Bethesda until 1842.

By 1855 the congregation had out-grown the chapel and it was decided to build a new chapel on a more accessible site and Salem Chapel was built to replace it.

Land was acquired between the main road and the factory pond with a ground rent of 10 shillings per annum. Because the land was so narrow, the chapel was built along the road rather than facing it. The new chapel cost £368.8s.7d and the members decided to call it Salem.

The congregation continued to grow, so the chapel was enlarged and re-built in 1872.

Salem became one of the focal points of Heolgerrig until well into the 20th century, and the choir and dramatic society at the chapel were famous throughout the borough, but as we have seen so many times, the congregation began to dwindle in the latter half of the century.

Salem Chapel Choir in about 1919. Photo courtesy of http://www.alangeorge.co.uk/index.htm

Due to prohibitive costs for the upkeep of the building, the main chapel was demolished in 1990, and the vestry was converted into a smaller chapel. Salem Chapel was one of the only chapels in Merthyr to still conduct its services entirely in the Welsh language until its closure in 2015.

‘China’

by Carolyn Jacob

There was district in Merthyr Tydfil south of the Brecon Road and bounded by the canal and the Abermorlais / British Tip (not far from Bethesda Chapel), which was known as ‘China’. There was not one Chinaman in nineteenth century ‘China’, although the district ‘China’ in Merthyr Tydfil did have its own Emperor. ‘China’ was not a Chinatown in the same way places of this name exist today. ‘China’ may not have been unique, as every large city had its rough ‘no go’ area, but at one time it was the most notorious district in the whole of Wales.

An extract from the 1851 Public Health Map showing the area known as ‘China’.

The terms ‘China’ and ‘Chinese’ are used frequently in the police reports, but always with inverted commas to indicate that this was merely a nickname. The census returns, which were taken every ten years from 1841, prove that the residents of ‘China’ were from all over the country. These ‘Chinese’ residents were mainly English, Irish and Welsh, but at times there were also some Germans and Eastern Europeans. A Jewish businessman was ridiculed in the newspaper for spending too much time with the ‘ladies of China’ until he found himself robbed by them.

There were a number of Merthyr Tydfil newspapers published from 1832 onwards and the Merthyr Telegraph had long accounts of ‘China’, mainly under the ‘Police Court’ column. When young men strayed into China and escaped with little more than the clothes on their backs, generally the judge had very little sympathy for them for being foolish enough to enter this dangerous area.

There are two interesting articles written on the subject, one by the historian David Jones, who was the expert on crime in Wales and the other by Dr Keith Strange, whose doctorate is about Merthyr Tydfil in the 1840s.

Keith’s fascinating article, ‘The Celestial City’ describes ‘China’ as a den of drunkards, thieves, rogues and prostitutes, whose general behaviour was completely foreign to the normal hard working respectable Welsh Chapel way of life. He once said that he thought the term ‘China’ might have arisen because Britain had a long ‘Opium War’ with China and the early nineteenth century newspapers are full of stories of China as the dreadful land of our enemies, and foreigners; equally ‘China’ in Merthyr Tydfil was the land of undesirables and foreigners (possibly also the place where opium could be smoked).

China was in the news and it was known that here was the ‘Forbidden City’ which no one could enter and return from alive. Few strangers were able to return safely from ‘China’ in Merthyr Tydfil with all their possessions. The attitude of police was that you entered China at your peril; certainly the police themselves did not dare go into China.

Entering China was not easy as the district was bounded by water, a dangerous smoking tip and a row of large dwellings, the entrance to ‘China’ was under an arch and there were door-keepers to send messages warning the residents.

This photograph from the 1890s shows the Pontstorehouse Shop, which was situated approximately near the entrance to Dixon Street, and the archway (which can be seen on the left hand side) appears to be one of the few ways of entry from Bethesda Street to China. Photo courtesy of http://www.alangeorge.co.uk/index.htm

However, by the 1880s there were reports in the Merthyr Express that ‘Old China is not the same’. Gradually ‘China’ declined; the professional criminals moved to Cardiff for richer pickings and in the twentieth century ‘Riverside’, which also had an entrance under an arch, became the most notorious part of the town. Although it must be said that many people today remember old Riverside as a place with very decent people.