The next chapel we are going to look at is Wesley Chapel in Dowlais. It has a very interesting history, and is one of the ‘survivors’ of the cull of chapels in the town.
Thomas Guest, the founder of the Dowlais Ironworks was prominent in the Wesleyan Church, and as such, he was a member of Wesley Chapel in Merthyr. In 1805, at Thomas Guest’s instigation, Rev Thomas Evans and Rev Edward Jones, ministers at the English and Welsh Wesleyan chapels in Merthyr came to Dowlais to preach in open-air meetings. When Thomas Guest died in 1807, both ministers carried on preaching and were instrumental in bringing Wesleyan Methodism to Dowlais.
Meetings were held in several places in Dowlais until the worshippers decided to build their own chapel. The site chosen for the chapel was where St John’s Church now stands, but owing to a dispute between the Wesleyan Conference and John Josiah Guest who owned the land, a different site had to be found.
The Welsh Wesleyans had already built their own chapel, called Shiloh at the bottom of Castle Street in Dowlais, and so a plot of land was leased from Mary Overton near to Shiloh Chapel and the congregation built a chapel in 1843.
The congregation soon grew and it became obvious that a larger chapel was needed, and the chapel was rebuilt in 1850. The chapel was subsequently renovated in 1875, 1892 and 1915. In 1871-73 a school room was also built adjoining the chapel on the site of the old Wesleyan burial ground.
In November 1928, a severe storm caused major damage to the chapel, and the building had to be demolished. A new chapel was built in 1932 at a cost of £1976.18s.6d. The old chapel had faced Dowlais High Street and was approached by a long flight of steps from the street, however when the chapel was rebuilt, it was built facing the opposite way and the main entrance was placed on Castle Street.
The old Wesley Chapel was in the centre of the area of Dowlais being redeveloped in the 1960’s. A Compulsory Purchase Order was put on the Chapel by Merthyr Borough Council and the chapel and was demolished in 1967. The congregation were determined that they would not let their cause die and fought to have a new chapel built for them. After much negotiating, a new modern chapel, designed by the Percy Thomas Partnership was built in South Street in 1972 at a cost of £50,000.
Wesley Chapel is now one of the few remaining chapels in Merthyr that is still open and holding regular services.
In 1791, an elderly lady named Mary Taylor moved to Dowlais from Dinas Powis, but upon arrival in Dowlais she found that she was the only Methodist in the area. She was soon joined however by a Mr Thomas Davies, and they started worshipping together. Gradually, others joined them, and they began worshipping at Pontmorlais Chapel in Merthyr before they were given permission to meet in Dowlais on the premises of Mr Thomas Williams, a local shoemaker.
