What This Site Is About

"The Rhondda is synonymous with coal. Coal brought the people to 'The Valleys'. The people brought their religion with them."

"And almost as fast as houses were built to serve the ever increasing population, chapels were built to serve their faith. There is a most famous quotation that by 1905 there were 151 Nonconformist chapels with a seating capacity of 85,105 in the Rhondda Urban District."

With these words I commenced the introduction to the original site which I started in 2009.

If you are curious how this website looked like in the past it has been archived on two sources

The first, which is dated up to 2015, is what I would refer to as the 'official' archive, was instigated partially under the auspices of The National Library of Wales and I was indeed mindful to get permission from all the sources I had relied upon in creating the site. You can view this archived version here.

The second, which is, theoretically, more up to date, is not an 'official' archive. That is to say that, unlike the NLW, no permission was sought from me for its capture. It is hosted on the Internet Archive so if you are curious you can find that quite easily on the web. However, I have noticed in the past that the capture is by no means complete which renders the whole exercise pointless.

As I have mentioned, the site was started in 2009. But the major source of material, other than my own field research, when I walked the length and breadth of the two valleys taking the then current photographs, was dated some 30 years prior. I subsequently added additional content notably ministers lists and statistics (my own inherent weakness) yet even these did not go beyond 1980.

It was always my intention to fill in that gap and even bring the story up-to-date. True that I got somewhat distracted with other projects but I simply now realise if I do not do it now it will never be done.

I even toyed with the idea of converting the site, and these subsequent, when finished, updates in to an actual book. I even drafted the introduction to that during my Christmas vacation in sunny Paignton in 2022. Friends of mine have done similar work but I believe they relied somewhat on local government sponsorship. But in these troubled times that avenue can no longer be explored and I can hardly risk self-financing it. So that plan was gently put to bed unless there is a kind sponsor out there :)

So I have concentrated my efforts in, essentially, an improved website with all the updates.

I always regarded the original introduction as a model of economy of words. So if you simply wish to read that you may do so here.

What follows is an expansion on that. Both based on proposed publication and how the site has now been improved upon. (And I make little apology for any anecdotes that have now crept in to the text.)

Introduction (Updated):

This website is an attempt to chart the history of, principally, Nonconformist chapels within The Rhondda. As far as I am aware, no such exercise has been undertaken before. There have been sites with lists plus information which was wildly inaccurate whereas most publications, both on paper and web-based concentrate on individual chapels or smaller areas. Thus I now aim to cover the entire Rhondda and as many chapels that I have found.

The Rhondda, as the reader of a certain age knew it, was the area covered by the now defunct Rhondda Urban District. This was, itself, born out of the joining of the greater part of the ancient parish of Ystradyfodwg plus smaller parts of the ancient parishes of Llanwonno and Llantrisant. The village we now know as Trehafod was an odd case. The west side was attached to the Rhondda Urban District whereas the east side was included in the Pontypridd Urban District. For the purposes of this site, the entire village is included.

There can be little doubt that the development of the Nonconformist movement within The Rhondda was a direct consequence of the development of the coal industry in the area. The prospect of adequate employment attracted peoples from all parts of Wales and beyond its borders and it was these people that brought their Nonconformist tradition with them. And whilst there existed meeting places as long ago as 1738, and chapels in the lower part of the area prior to 1850, it was the major increase in population in the second half of the 19th Century that resulted in over 150 chapels by 1905.

It was in 2009 that I was to learn that a chapel, where I was brought up in Treherbert, namely Bethany English Baptist, had, due to structural issues, been forced to close its doors although its church did continue elsewhere for some years. This led me to ponder the fate of other chapels that I knew had existed and many that the ravages of time had clouded my memory. So I started to look for information and as fortune often favours the brave I discovered a major archived source which, although was created some 30 years prior did form the nucleus of the site I was to create. The archive and other sources I subsequently consulted are detailed on the 'Sources' page accessed from the 'top' menu.

This 'top' menu links to the three major sections of the site. 'The Chapels' will take you to a page of detail for each individual chapel. The major enhancement is the inclusion of extended historical notes plus the document sources of these notes. If extended notes are not available, I default to the comments found on the prior versions of the site. The extended notes will be introduced as time permits. But if a reader is interested in a particular chapel then do contact me and I will endevour to promote it rather than do them as I feel fit. As an easy guide to how these updates progress, I have prepared this page from where you can link direct to the chapel of your choice. This page can also be accessed from the 'Site' menu on the Chapels page.

For each page, as available, you can access via the 'Current Selection' drop-down menu additional content beit the list of ministers, now also brought up to date (as information allows), membership statistics or extra, pictorial, content. The 'Overview' option takes you back to the initial chapel page having selected one of the other menu options.

Sadly, I have an inherent 'weakness' for statistics. So it is this section, both for information and design, that I am rather proud of. These statistics reflect a crucial period in the fortunes of Rhondda chapels - the affect of the 1904 Revival. General Five-Year statistics are also included. The problem with statistics is that you are at the mercy of the source documents - usually the denominational Year Books. Unfortunately, for whatever reason, they were not always up to date and quite often previous year's figures were carried over. Since I accept the figures at face value, I make no judgement of their accuracy. The Congregational chapels seem to suffer the most in this respect, as can be seen, which rather devalue their purpose. From 1950, the membership figures for the Welsh Independent Chapels are taken from their own publication - "Rhestr o'r tanysgrifiodau" - rather than The Congregational Year Book (which actually stopped publishing the Welsh statistics in the 1960s). Even so, figures are still being carried forward as it appears that not all chapels were responsive in providing up-to-date information.

The Calvinistic Methodists publish the richest set of statistics so these are shown in more detail, as available. Apart from the Year Books, they are also sourced from Annual Reports of the Monthly Meeting and, in some cases, the records of the individual chapels. Some years are not currently available so the records as published here are those of adjacent years.

For the Baptist denomination, I have also made use of the Annual Reports of the Associations. Not all years are available from this source so these are filled in by their YearBook/Diary. There are Association records for both the Welsh-speaking and English-speaking churches and I have included those columns that are common to both. The Welsh churches, for most years, did not show net totals but I have included these as if. Both Associations included special statistics reflecting the effect of the Revival and these are quite illuminating - for the Welsh churches one can now see that the reducion in membership during 1905 was generally much greater than the end of year figures suggest. Just one further comment. If you look closely at these figures, which I have transcribed without correction, they do not always 'add up'. It, I suspect, is possible that some churches were reporting their own year-end figures rather than the common year-end of the Association.

Neither the Wesleyan Methodists nor the Primitive Methodists published membership statistics on an individual chapel basis. The figures that are quoted refer to the entire circuit.

If you compare the information now presented with what appears in the prior version of the site, you will notice some variations. The general Year Books do not always make it clear as to the year the figures relate to so it is often a 'best guess' on my part. I had contemplated extending the information beyond the present cut-off date of 1970 but information gets sparse. The Baptist Union, for example, stopped the publication of its Year Book in 2013. The Methodists (Wesleyan etc.) did not provide even information on a circuit basis with the final year for that refering to 1968. Ironically, they started publishing data on a chapel basis from 2002 except that it is not generally available (believe me I have tried to get access) and for most that would have been too late.

Previous versions of the site listed the chapels alphabetically by Town. I have now chosen to list them in chronological order of formation date or initial building date where the former is not known. Chapels without either are shown at the end of the lists. One can limit the display of chapels both by Town and/or Denomination and navigation is provided for by the left/right arrows. I would add, at this point, that a chapel may not be listed in the township you expected to find it. A good example is several chapels that denominational records showed to be located in Llwynpia, including Jerusalem and Bethania, yet all are located in present-day Tonypandy. I have now also separated Tynewydd from Treherbert and Ynyswen from Treorchy. I originally showed Seion, Penrhiwfer to be located in Williamstown and modern road signs reflect that but I have now reverted to Penrhiwfer. At the end of the list, I now include a few chapels which I know to have existed but have absolutely no information whatsover on them. Maybe that will change. The other drop-down menu, namely 'Site' actually mimics the 'top' menu so there is no need to 'phone home'.

The second major enhancement to the site is the promotion of the database of 'The Ministers' to the 'top' menu. This has been totally re-designed more in keeping with my other ministerial websites. If you are familiar with these then you will know how this works. Otherwise the 'More..' selection provides some instruction and, as before, access to the database. And as before, apart from this, the 'More' selection provides a stepping-stone to further additional content of the site.

I have also made some improvements in respect of site navigation. Long pages, just like this one, will now scroll behind the top-menu so you no longer have to scroll back up to access that. Also, if a page calls a sub-page you can return directly to the calling page by clicking the '[Return]' menu option.

The creation of the website has been a 'journey' of discovery. Sometimes quite a literal journey since I am constantly reminded of a quite regular shopping walk I undertake in Treorchy and lower Ynyswen, where I now reside, when I pass by some nine chapels. Except that all but two have vanished and only one holds a service to this day. Yet the whole of Treorchy is better blessed than any other township of The Rhondda since, as I write this in July 2023, three still hold services.

So whilst it is easy to understand the reason for the opening of many of the chapels and one must also consider the schisms within a particular church which resulted in more than one in a township with many not surviving, the decline, closure and, in many cases, demolition is more complex. It was Eben Phillips, a former secretary of Ainon, Ynyshir who summarised it quite expertly as a postscript to a series of articles in the Welsh Baptist Historical Journal. And whilst he only wrote about the closures of hs own denomination they can equally apply to all denominations and most also to English-speaking ones. He cited, quite obviously, the expectation that the coal industry would continue to provide ample employment. He expanded on this point that The Rhondda suffered a huge decline in population from the mid 1920's. So this, in itself, mirrored the reason for the large increase as people came to the valleys in the prospect of employment but now the following generations had to leave to find their 'fortune' elsewhere. Even my mother found herself living in Grays, Essex in the mid to late 1930's and the family only returned to South Wales, initially to Whitchurch, during the war. She only returned to Treherbert (although whilst in Essex she would spend her summers there) in 1945 following the sudden death of her father. There she was introduced to my father who had himself only arrived in Treherbert in 1944 as a Bevin Boy. At least there is something I can thank Mr. Hitler for.

He also cited the belief that the Welsh language would maintain its status. Except that it was only the older people that spoke it. When I attended grammar school in the 60's, Welsh was only compulsory in the first year, I, as did many of my class-mates, dropped the subject. And only now do I regret that decision.

He also mentioned the expectation that families would continue to occupy the pews. Yet even from my own experience at Bethany, when myself and my older sister attended morning service (we left as the minister rose to give his sermon), it was noticeable that most pews were unoccupied. It was only at special occasions such as the Anniversary celebration that the parents attended to support their children. So whilst they were happy enough to send their children to Sunday-School they, unlike in the past, did not regularly attend themselves. I must admit that I may be somewhat uncharitable in these comments inasmuch that Bethany had a reasonal membership going in to the 70's and it my regret that I never asked my mother about general evening attendance. And what of these children ? Just as myself as they grew in to their teens left both the Sunday-School and chapel all together. In total contrast my dear sister, with my parents, regularly attended their new chapel - Providence, Ynyswen - and did so until her life was tragically cut short at the age of 48 in 2000.

So it, generally, was left to the older generation to continue chapel going with the obvious consequence that membership would fall to the point that there was insufficient attendance to support the chapel. So chapel had seen its time basically come to an end. But what would become of these magnificent buildings ?. Some, no doubt, had structural issues. I will mention the 'fate' of Bethany on its page. Equally, (and here's a clue) some were acquired by developers and beautifully restored. For those that suffered the fate of demolition, sometimes grand private dwellings were constructed on site and it always gives me the goose-bumps to see the chapel name retained. But the worse case scenario is to simply find a waste plot of land and, maybe, a hope for the future.

But all is not a lost cause. So whilst traditional denominations floundered quite a few chapels experienced a new lease of life in the Apostolic movements. At the very least the buildings remain to remind one of their glorious past.

But I think I have written enough for now. If you are still with me, I trust you can join me on my journey of discovery.