2. 17th Century
Nonconformist Chapels in Wales
Contents
17th century
Difficult times for nonconformists
The 17th century was an extremely turbulent time for nonconformists. Before the Toleration Act, nonconformists would have to meet in secret. Of necessity, this would often be at night in remote isolated cottages.One such area is recorded as being the upland area to the north of Merthyr Tydfil where there were small cottages and farm holdings.
To quote from ‘A Portrait of Rhymney, Vol 5’:
The remoteness of many of these holdings made them ideal venues for the dissenters’ meetings during the time of religious intolerance. Secret meetings were often held at night in isolated cottages, sometimes attended by travelling preachers. In Cwm Pidwallt, hidden in a mountain hollow, stood the shepherd's cottage Ty Cristor (house of Christopher) and its tenant Cristor y Bugail (Christopher the Shepherd) gave sanctuary in the early 17th century to the earliest known gatherings of non-conformist in the area. Here, in order to avoid the sectarian persecution that was taking place far and wide at the time, Presbyterians, Baptists, Methodists and independents met in utter secrecy to practice their faith. The common between Rhymney Bridge and Dowlais became referred to on old maps as Waun Cristor and its roadway was known as The Sacred Road.
This area as it is today.
The remains of a sheepfold
Near Cwm Pitwellt 
The first Nonconformist Chapels
While it did not remove the civil restraints on dissenters, the Toleration Act of 1689 restored some measure of liberty of worship, albeit within strictly controlled parameters. Nonconformist places of worship required registration and for the first time dissenters were allowed to build their own places of worship. Hitherto they had mostly met in private houses but from 1690 onwards both Independents and Baptists began to erect chapels.Independent / Congregational (1)
For more information from Addoldai Cymru (Welsh Religious Buildings Trust)
For more information from the GENUKI genealogy website
Llanfaches, Monmouthshire
The first Independent church in Wales was established in Llanfaches, Monmouthshire by William Wroth, the rector of the local parish church. This ‘gathered church’ within the parish church had a service of recognition in 1639 led to his expulsion. The members who left with him met wherever they could, in homes, licensed houses or barns until a chapel was erected 50 years later. As no landowner in the Parish of Llanfaches would lease them a plot to build a chapel, it was built in the neighbouring hamlet of Carrow Hill.
Eventually, in 1803, the chapel was ‘rebuilt’ on the existing site in Llanfaches.
Located on the corner of Tabernacle Road and the A48, about 700 metres south of the main residential area of Llanvaches. Now a part of the United Reformed Church, Tabernacle dates its origins to 1639,
the first non-conformist chapel in Wales. The 1639 chapel was in the neighbouring hamlet of Carrow Hill. It was rebuilt in Llanvaches in 1802. The chapel seen here dates from the 1920s.
the first non-conformist chapel in Wales. The 1639 chapel was in the neighbouring hamlet of Carrow Hill. It was rebuilt in Llanvaches in 1802. The chapel seen here dates from the 1920s.
by Jaggery
The Coflein website states:
Tabernacle Independent Chapel was built in 1639, rebuilt in 1803 and remodelled in 1924, including the addition of a Memorial Hall.
However, this is misleading as the original chapel was built in 1689 in the nearby hamlet of Carrow Hill.
William Wroth died in 1641 and was buried, in accordance with his wishes, beneath the porch at Llanvaches parish church.
The medieval church was Grade II listed in 1963. Dubritius (Dyfrig in Welsh) was a 6th century evangelist of much of SE Wales.
by Jaggery
Penmain, Monmouthshire
One notable person associated with the early days of Nonconformity in Wales is Henry Walter.
He was a curate of St Tudor's Church, Mynyddislwyn
and later was vicar of St Woolos, Newport 
.However, he was associated with William Wroth of Llanfaches and became a leader of Nonconformists in South-east Wales.
His biography can be seen by following the link given below.
Penmain Chapel was built in 1694, rebuilt in 1829 and renovated in 1888. The congregation that first worshipped here was established by Henry Walter Link and was one of the earliest nonconformist congregations in Wales.
and was one of the earliest nonconformist congregations in Wales.by Robin Drayton
Glasbury, Radnorshire
This was an Independent Chapel founded around 1696 in place of an old barn where meetings were held in secret from before 1672, probably from the late 16C or early 17C. It is the oldest unaltered non-conformist meeting place still in use in Wales. The chapel is a plain building 15 m by 7 m, attached to a farmhouse; there is a cruck frame in the wall between them. The roof was replaced 18C and the stone flagged floor 19C. It has 18 & 19C furniture including box pews and narrow benches for the children. It is now (1998) used by the United Reformed Church.
by Humphrey Bolton
A significant historic place of worship. Before the 1689 Act of Toleration which permitted the so-called early Non-conformists genuine freedom to worship in their own buildings without certain legal strictures and strong disapproval from the established church, worshippers in this area met in secret in a Welsh longhouse on or very near this spot and then built or converted Maesyronnen Chapel as one of the very earliest chapel buildings in Wales.
This happened back in the 1690s. It was registered as a chapel in 1697. The chapel was built on land given by Charles Lloyd the squire of Maesllwch down the hill. In the 1980's the chapel received a grant of maintenance monies having been recognised as a building of "outstanding architectural and historic importance" by the Historic Buildings Council. Further restoration and repair became necessary in the 21st century and Cadw gave a grant of £50,000, following a recommendation from the Historic Buildings Advisory Council for Wales. The chapel re-opened for worship in the spring of 2008 and is now designated a United Reformed church.
This happened back in the 1690s. It was registered as a chapel in 1697. The chapel was built on land given by Charles Lloyd the squire of Maesllwch down the hill. In the 1980's the chapel received a grant of maintenance monies having been recognised as a building of "outstanding architectural and historic importance" by the Historic Buildings Council. Further restoration and repair became necessary in the 21st century and Cadw gave a grant of £50,000, following a recommendation from the Historic Buildings Advisory Council for Wales. The chapel re-opened for worship in the spring of 2008 and is now designated a United Reformed church.
by Jeremy Bolwell
Llanwrtyd Wells, Breconshire
Site of the first Congregational chapel in this area, 1693 - 1906.
by Roger Whittleston
Baptist (1)
For more information from Addoldai Cymru (Welsh Religious Buildings Trust)For more information from the GENUKI genealogy website
There had been Baptists in Wales and the Marches before the foundation of the Ilston church. As early as 1633, for example, there had been a Baptist community at Olchon, on the borders of Herefordshire and Monmouthshire, and there were Baptists in Radnorshire in the mid 1640s. But there is no evidence that a properly organised, distinct and visible church of Baptist believers existed in Wales before 1 October 1649. It was on that date that John Miles established his Baptist church at Ilston.
Ilston, Glamorganshire
As with the Independents, the first Baptist cause in Wales arose through a rector in a parish church. Here it was John Miles, the rector of St. Illtyd's church on the Gower Peninsula near Swansea. It was here in October 1649 that John Miles established his Baptist church at Ilston which continued to meet in the parish church which they referred to as a meeting house. Subsequently, during the restoration of the monarchy the congregation were forced to leave in the 1660s and meet in hiding.
Hunkered down in Ilston cwm and reached across a narrow footbridge this chunky little church is essentially a Victorian reconstruction of the original mediaeval version. Apart from its delightful setting the church has an unexpected claim to fame in that it acted as the meeting place for the earliest Baptist congregation, under the leadership of one John Miles/Myles a parliamentarian who took over the living from the royalist incumbent in 1649.
"From 1649 until 1660 the Ilston Baptists met in the parish church St Illtyd, of which Miles was rector or minister, though they always referred to the place as their ‘Meeting House’, not their ‘church’ or ‘chapel’. Baptist services and meetings were open only to members. Indeed, Miles was insistent that non-baptised sympathisers should not be allowed to attend. But Miles would also have held more general services for all the parishioners of Ilston, the majority of whom remained non-Baptists. The church had been built by the local de Breos family in the thirteenth century, probably on the site of an earlier Christian cell. It was drastically ‘restored’ inside and out in the mid nineteenth century, and many of the features familiar to Miles and his Baptists have been destroyed or altered beyond recognition."
At the Restoration Miles was ejected, the Baptist movement was forced underground and in 1663 he emigrated to America along with many more of his co-religionists, and died there in 1684.
The full story, from which the above quotation is abstracted, can be read here Link
"From 1649 until 1660 the Ilston Baptists met in the parish church St Illtyd, of which Miles was rector or minister, though they always referred to the place as their ‘Meeting House’, not their ‘church’ or ‘chapel’. Baptist services and meetings were open only to members. Indeed, Miles was insistent that non-baptised sympathisers should not be allowed to attend. But Miles would also have held more general services for all the parishioners of Ilston, the majority of whom remained non-Baptists. The church had been built by the local de Breos family in the thirteenth century, probably on the site of an earlier Christian cell. It was drastically ‘restored’ inside and out in the mid nineteenth century, and many of the features familiar to Miles and his Baptists have been destroyed or altered beyond recognition."
At the Restoration Miles was ejected, the Baptist movement was forced underground and in 1663 he emigrated to America along with many more of his co-religionists, and died there in 1684.
The full story, from which the above quotation is abstracted, can be read here Link
by Natasha Ceridwen de Chroustchoff
Over half a mile southwest of the church, in Ilston Cwm, is the site of the pre-Reformation chapel of Trinity Well. Tradition has it that Miles and his congregation used either this pre-Reformation chapel or a small, crude building erected next to it as a Baptist meeting house.
In 1928 a ceremony took place where David Lloyd George unveiled a memorial tablet by the ruins. It says:
To commemorate the foundation in this valley of the first Baptist church in Wales 1649-60 and to honour the memory of its founder John Miles. This ruin is the site of the pre-Reformation chapel of Trinity Well and is claimed by tradition as a meeting place of the above Cromwellian church.
Llanwenarth, Monmouthshire
John Miles was also instrumental in establishing a Baptist church in Monmouthshire. Visiting Abergavenny and preaching there, a Baptist fellowship was formed in 1652. Later, in 1695, a lease on some land at Llanwerth was obtained and a Meeting House was built and licensed for worship.
In 1830 the membership was 629 with many travelling from afar. Over the years groups of members were released to plant other chapels in southeast Wales.
The chapel website gives a fuller history of the chapel Link
.
The rear of the chapel as viewed from the Monmouthshire and Brecon Canal.
This is the oldest surviving Baptist chapel in Wales dating from 1695 and part of the existing building dates back to that time.
It was rebuilt in 1807, renovated in 1870, 1893 and the late 20th century.
Grade II* Listed.
This is the oldest surviving Baptist chapel in Wales dating from 1695 and part of the existing building dates back to that time.
It was rebuilt in 1807, renovated in 1870, 1893 and the late 20th century.
Grade II* Listed.
by Robin Drayton
Quakers, The Religious Society of Friends (1)
For more information from Addoldai Cymru (Welsh Religious Buildings Trust)For more information from the GENUKI genealogy website
The Pant, Llanvihangel-Ystern-Llewern, Monmouthshire
Details about this property
Pant Quaker Chapel was built during the seventeenth century as part of a sixteenth century cruck framed hall-house.
It is Grade II* listed.
By Robin Drayton
It is Grade II* listed.
By Robin Drayton
Pales Friends (Quaker Meeting) House, Llanndegley, Powys
The gate to the C18 Quaker meeting house of The Pales, high above Llandegley village. The main A44 can be seen down in the valley below.
By Mike Parker.
A Quaker burial ground was established here in 1673.
A Meeting House was first built in 1716 and rebuilt in 1745. It was renovated in the 1950s and 1979.
The roof was re-thatched in 1982 and it is one of only two Friends meeting houses in the UK that have thatched roofs.
In 2023 it was acquired by Addoldai Cymru/Welsh Religious Building Trust.
It is Grade II* listed.
There is currently (2023) no picture of this meeting house on Geograph.
By Mike Parker.
A Quaker burial ground was established here in 1673.
A Meeting House was first built in 1716 and rebuilt in 1745. It was renovated in the 1950s and 1979.
The roof was re-thatched in 1982 and it is one of only two Friends meeting houses in the UK that have thatched roofs.
In 2023 it was acquired by Addoldai Cymru/Welsh Religious Building Trust.
It is Grade II* listed.
There is currently (2023) no picture of this meeting house on Geograph.
Unitarians (1)
For more information from Addoldai Cymru (Welsh Religious Buildings Trust)For more information from the GENUKI genealogy website.
Gellionnen Unitarian Chapel, Pontardawe, Neath Port Talbot
Details about this property
Built in 1692 by Protestant dissenters, Gellionen Chapel occupies a remote location on the hills above Clydach and Pontardawe.
Link
Link
by Alan Hughes
Capel Caeronnen & its burial ground, Cellan, Ceredigion
Details about this property
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