
Moriah Chapel Loughor, Swansea, Wales.
The home church of revivalist Evan Roberts. It saw revival break out at the end of October 1904, which brought the revival to national prominence. It is still an active church, part of the Presbyterian Church of Wales.

Tabernacle Calvinistic Methodist Church, New Quay, Cardiganshire
It was here, early in 1904, that a young girl, Florrie Evans gave her testimony, “I love the Lord Jesus with all my heart.” Because of this testimony, many present came under the Holy Spirit and the early phase of the 1904/5 Welsh Revival started.

Calvinistic Methodist Chapel, Blaenannerch, Cardiganshire, Wales
One starting place of 1904-5 Welsh Revival.
It was here in October 1904 that Evan Roberts prayed “Jesus bend me”, and was baptised with the Holy Spirit.

Rowlands Chapel, Llangeitho, Wales.
One of the centres for the 18th century Methodist revival in Wales. Daniel Rowlands had started his ministry as a curate in the local parish. Having been converted and caught up in the Methodist movement, he was eventually forced out of the established Anglican church and had his own chapel built by supporters. Regarded as one of the finest British preachers ever. He preached in Welsh.

Rowlands Chapel, Llangeitho, Wales.
The immaculate inside of Rowlands’ chapel. The door to the pulpit is straight from the outside. Photos taken in the 1980s.

St David’s Cathedral, Pembrokeshire.
St David is the patron saint of Wales. He was a leader in the early Celtic church. This building was built long after his time. Unlike many cathedrals, this one really acts as a parish church for the UK’s smallest city of less than 2000 people.

Methodist Church, St. David’s, Wales.
The Methodist church has its roots in good discipleship. John Wesley, and others, were not content to just make converts, they wanted believers to grow in faith and maturity and become strong Christians. The Methodists set up the class system whereby believers could be discipled at a level appropriate to their maturity. They did not rely on Sunday services and sermons to teach their flock. Nor were the classes just Bible knowledge. The knowledge needed to be applied. The church above in St. David’s was one of the most westerly Wesleyan Methodist churches in Wales. Sadly it is now closed. At some point in its history, Methodism stopped making disciples, and decline is the inevitable result.

Argyle Presbyterian Church, Swansea, Wales.
This was the church where I spent the first five years of my life, though I remember little of it. Apparently, the church ministry had been liberalising for some time, and things came to a head in the early 60s when Biblical doctrines were being openly denied from the pulpit. My parents left the church, and I ended up in the Sunday school of a different church, attended by my school friends. The numbers in Argyle fell during the 60s and 70s, and it eventually closed and became housing. The Welsh Presbyterian church was the original Welsh Calvinistic Methodists who were instrumental in all the revivals in Wales, including 1904/5. My mother was brought up in this church, taught by Sunday school teachers converted in the revival. However, a generation later, all was forgotten by the leader, and the older people who remembered more godly days were let down.

Parish Church, Llantrisant, Wales
Parish Church, Llantrisant, Wales
The oldest parts of the current church building of Llantrisant parish date back to Norman times, though most of it is from the 14th and 16th centuries. There was a major refurbishment in Victorian times. Worship on the site can be dated back to the 700s AD. Originally, the worshippers would have been in the Celtic church, but by the time the current building had been started, they would have been subsumed into the Catholic church that dominated Western Christendom at that time. By 1386, the church was under Tewkesbury Abbey, so that at the Reformation, when it became Anglican, it became part of the Diocese of Gloucester, not a Welsh diocese. Only in 1885 was it transferred to Llandaff diocese, which, since 1920, has been part of the Church in Wales. Churches with long histories see many denominational and organisational changes. It remains an active church.

Former Bethel Chapel, Llantrisant Wales.
In the distance is Bethel Chapel, which was opened in 1808 by the Welsh Independent movement, the “Annibynwyr”, although it was known locally as the Old Upper Meeting House. In 1851 it had an average Sunday attendance of 421. In 1862, a split took place, and most of the members left to form the Zoar Chapel (see next photo). The few remaining members were too few for the building and chose to meet in farm buildings instead. The building was sold to the parish church as a parish hall. The parish church is on the left of this photo (and in a previous photo). The hall is in use to this day and has had a sympathetic refurbishment.

Former Zoar Welsh Independent Chapel, Llantrisant Wales.
Founded in 1862 as a break away from the Bethel Chapel, also of the same “Annibynwyr” denomination in Llantrisant (see previous entry). The building above was built in 1905 to house a congregation of many hundreds, with the services in Welsh. It closed at the turn of the century. The decline of the Welsh language in this part of Wales would have been a major contributor to its numerical decline.

Former Peniel Chapel, Llantrisant, Wales.
Former Peniel Chapel, Llantrisant, Wales.
Peniel Chapel was originally a Welsh-speaking Calvinist Methodist Church. As English became more common, it started a sister chapel across the road. Later, the denomination changed its name to the Presbyterian Church of Wales. As numbers fell the two congregations merged back together in Peniel as a bilingual church. The building opposite was used by a Pentecostal church until they moved elsewhere, and it became a house. Peniel closed in the early 21st century. As yet, the building has not found a new use. Such closures reflect the inability of the post-war Christian church to pass the faith on to the next generation.

Independent Chapel Trefor (Maes-y-neuadd addoldy annibynwyr)
This closed Independent Church in Trefor, Caernarfonshire is a fine example of late 19th century Welsh chapel architecture. It became a Grade II listed building in 1999. In a small community such as Trefor, one wonders what such a building can be used for now or how it could be maintained for the future despite its listing. The first Welsh Independent church in Trefor was in the farmhouse opposite. Over the centuries, as the church grew, they expanded into buildings, finishing with this 500-seat marvel. The building is a testimony to the magnificent works of God that took place in this area up to the 20th century. Why did they stop? Why do we not see them now? Empty church buildings should drive us to prayer for a new outpouring of the Spirit.