John Gabe – The Melting Pot

Merthyr’s Chapels: Gwernllwyn Chapel

Gwernllwyn Welsh Independent Chapel, Dowlais

By the end of the 1840’s, the congregation at Bethania Chapel was growing so rapidly due to the revival that occurred following the devastating cholera outbreak in 1849, that the chapel could no longer accommodate them. Indeed, 250 new members were accepted into the chapel on one Sunday alone. The elders of the chapel met on 16 May 1850, and decided that rather than try to enlarge the already huge chapel, it would make more sense to build a new chapel nearby that would act as a sister church to Bethania.

A number of the congregation voluntarily left Bethania to form a new church and so Gwernllwyn Chapel was built in 1850 to seat 800 people. The new chapel was designed by Rev Benjamin Owen, minister of Zoar Chapel, Merthyr, and built by the Gabe Brothers at a cost of £900. On Sunday 2 February 1851, a prayer meeting was held at Bethania Chapel at 9 o’clock in the morning, and at 11 o’clock, 250 people ceremonially left Bethania to officially open the new chapel.

Mr John Hughes, the minister at Bethania took the services at Gwernllwyn for the first two years of its existence until Mr Benjamin Williams (left) became Gwernllwyn’s full time minister in July 1852.

Under Benjamin Williams’ ministry, the congregation flourished, and during his nine years at Gwernllwyn he was instrumental in the setting up of Penywern Chapel and the English Cause at Ivor Chapel.

The congregation at Gwernllwyn continued to increase and it was necessary to build a new larger chapel. The new chapel with seating for almost 1000 people was completed in 1874 at a cost of £2,210. As well as the new chapel it was also decided to build two schoolrooms – one at Gellifaelog in 1876 and one at Cwmrhydybedd in 1877; the cost being £500.

In 1889 a magnificent pipe organ was installed by Vowles and Sons at a cost of £334, and was opened by Mr J Haydn Parry, son of Dr Joseph Parry.

During the 1940’s a beautiful memorial window was placed in the vestibule of the chapel by the family of Messrs Enoch Williams & Sons in memory of their father who had been a deacon in the chapel for many years.

Gwernllwyn still had a flourishing congregation when the chapel was forced to close, and was demolished in the late 1960’s due to the redevelopment of Dowlais.

New Freemasons’ Hall

From the South Wales Daily News 140 years ago today…

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

London to Dowlais via Downton Abbey!!!

Many people of a certain age will remember Dowlais Central Schools, but did you know that the building was actually designed by Sir Charles Barry, the architect responsible for building the present Houses of Parliament (not to mention remodelling Highclere Castle – the setting for Downton Abbey)?

In 1853, Lady Charlotte Guest decided to commission a new school in Dowlais in memory of her late husband, Sir John Josiah Guest. She approached Sir Charles Barry, a personal friend who had previously re-designed the Guest’s new home at Canford Manor in Dorsetshire, to design the school to accommodate 650 boys and girls and 680 infants. The school was built by John Gabe, the prestigious Merthyr builder, and it was completed at a cost of between £8,000 and £10,000 (depending on which source you consult) and opened in 1855. The cost of the building was paid for, in full, by the Dowlais Iron Company. The Merthyr Telegraph described the completed building as:-

“…very chaste, massive and grand, without being at all heavy in its effect. The principal entrance admits, under a spacious gallery, into the Infants’ School-room, a noble apartment, 100 feet long by 35 feet wide; the roof of the open Gothic is 60 feet from the floor at the highest point. To the right and left, through two immense arches, open the schools for boys and girls, each 90 feet long by 30 feet wide. Light is admitted through very large and handsome Gothic windows – there are several spacious and handsome class-rooms attached, and there is an extensive play ground in front.”

Dowlais Central Schools courtesy of Old Merthyr Tydfil (http://www.alangeorge.co.uk/index.htm)

There was even a form of central heating used in the school, provided by hot air pumped from an engine house in the ironworks through underground ducts to the school itself.

Sir Charles Barry also designed, at Lady Charlotte Guest’s instigation, the Guest Memorial Hall (now the Guest Keen Club), a library and reading room for employees of the Dowlais Iron Company.

Dowlais Central Schools were demolished in the 1970’s, one of the many architectural masterpieces that Merthyr has sadly lost in the name of progress. Luckily the Guest Memorial Hall still survives to this day.

Do you have any memories of Dowlais Central Schools? If so please share them by using the comments button, or by e-mail at merthyr.history@gmail.com

If you want to learn more about Sir Charles Barry have a look at these sites:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Barry

https://www.architecture.com/Explore/Architects/CharlesBarry.aspx