Chapels and Churches of Cwmtwrch and Gurnos
Cwmtwrch has three chapels that remain active places of worship - Beulah, a Baptist chapel, Bethania, a Methodist chapel, and Ebenezer, an independent/congregationalist chapel. There is also the Tro'r Gleien Mission Hall.
Our website has extensive pages on most of the ten or eleven chapels and churches that have existed during Cwmtwrch's history. You can click on their name in the menu, where they are conveniently sorted by location, or from the summary of each chapel below.
Methodist
Bethania Chapel, Cwmtwrch, was built in 1851 and celebrated its centenary in 1951, though the current building dates to 1933. It was associated with Yorath Chapel in Cwmgiedd, and came to share a joint pastor.
Independent/Congregationalist
Bethel Chapel's origins were as an offshoot of Cwmllynfell Chapel, but upon completion in 1861 it was established as an independent church in its own right. It was closed and put up for sale in 2010, now being a private building.
Baptist
Beulah Chapel is a Baptist establishment, built in 1834 and rebuilt in 1860, and further modified in 1903. Its vestry across the main road serves as its Sunday School, and it has an old cemetery adjacent to the chapel.
Baptist
Bryn Seion, Cwmtwrch, began as a Sunday School for the Baptists, before being established as its own church in 1897, taking as its congregation some of the members of Beulah. It had ceased being used by 1996 and was put up for sale in 2019.
Baptist
Capel Newydd was constructed in 1930 as a new Baptist chapel for Cwmtwrch by a section of the previous congregation of Beulah Chapel. It closed in 2010 and has been sold and converted into private accommodation.
Independent/Congregationalist
Ebenezer Chapel is an independent/congregationalist establishment, and grew out of Temperance Hall. When it was decided that the latter was too small to serve the needs of the 1890s, it was decided to construct an entirely new building across the road, Ebenezer Chapel.
Methodist
Gorof was founded as an outreach of Bethania Chapel, Cwmtwrch and variously known as Gorof Church and Gorof Sunday School. It was based in the old Gorof Hall, now demolished, on X Road, in Gurnos, which establishment was run by the XYZ.
Anglican
Saint Peter's was a church within the parish of Ystradgynlais. The building that housed it had been erected as a storehouse prior to conversion to church use in 1858. The church seems to have been partially closed from the 1930s onwards and by the late 1950s had been closed and was again being used as a stores. It was demolished some time after 1960.
Denomination
Temperance Hall was built in 1860, having Cwmllynfell Chapel as its mother church. In 1892 it was decided that it was too small for the then-congregation, but instead of rebuilding it, it was decided to construct Ebenezer Chapel across the road. Thereafter, Temperance Hall remained as a vestry for Ebenezer. It has now been sold and converted into a private residence.
Denomination
Tro'r Gleien Mission Hall grew out of the Religious Revival of 1904, and was constructed between 1909-1912, with founder and Pastor George Griffiths in charge from 1912 to 1970. The building was rebuilt in 1962, and remains an active place of worship within Cwmtwrch.
Apostolic
Bethel Mission Chapel, or Hall, in Lower Cwmtwrch was built as a branch of the Bethel Apostolic Church on Penywern Road, Ystalyfera. Known colloquially as Bethel Fach, it was sold in 1947 and converted into a private building.