Bethlehem, Mountain Ash facts for kids
Bethlehem, Mountain Ash was a special church called a Calvinistic Methodist chapel. It was located on Pryce Street in Mountain Ash, a town in Glamorgan, Wales. All the services at Bethlehem were held in the Welsh language.
How Bethlehem Chapel Started
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The story of Bethlehem Chapel began in 1854. At first, people met for church services in different houses, first on Commercial Street and then on Duffryn Street.
In 1857, they built a schoolroom, which cost about £500. This building became known as Capel Bach, meaning 'Little Chapel'. Important people like William Lloyd, a draper, and Rees Evans, a grocer, helped lay the special foundation stones for this building.
For a while, the chapel didn't have a full-time minister. During this time, Reverend T. Rees and Morgan Edwards, who were a minister and a deacon from another church called Libanus, Aberaman, visited regularly to help and support the new church.
In 1870, Reverend T. C. Phillips became the first permanent minister. He served the church until 1884. After him, M. D. Jones became the minister in 1884 and stayed until 1911. He had previously been at Libanus, Dowlais.
A famous religious speaker named Evan Roberts visited Bethlehem for a short time in 1899.
The Chapel in the 1900s
In 1900, the chapel building was rebuilt and made bigger. Thomas Roderick of Aberdare designed the new building, which cost about £2,000.
M. D. Jones, who had been the minister for 27 years, passed away in 1911. To remember him, a special plaque was put up in September 1913. Reverend J. Morgan Jones from Cardiff helped to unveil it.
After M. D. Jones's death, the church didn't have a minister for a while. Then, in July 1914, J. R. Evans from Bwlch, Breconshire, became the new minister.
During World War II, in June 1941, the Duffryn Boys School was damaged by enemy bombing. Because of this, the chapel's vestry (a room used for church activities) was used as a school for young children from 1942 until 1948.
In 1952, Bethlehem Chapel started working closely with another church, the Independent church at Bethania. They shared a minister. In 1953, a new pipe organ was installed in Bethlehem Chapel, costing £950.
Bethlehem Chapel closed its doors in 1980. The building was taken down in 1990. Today, the Hillcrest Medical Centre stands on the site where the chapel once was, built in 1992 and 1993.
