Saron Welsh Independent Chapel, Troedyrhiw
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.
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.