Mynyddbach Chapel

Mynyddbach Chapel stands on a quiet hillside just outside Swansea, in the village of Llangyfelach. Built in 1762, it is the oldest Independent chapel in the town and once lay beyond the town boundaries to avoid persecution. The present building dates from 1867, with a major renovation in the 1930s that preserved its simple stone walls and tall windows. A small group had gathered for worship in farmhouses as early as 1640, reading scriptures and praying together. Samuel Jones served as minister at Tirdwncyn from 1720 to 1759, keeping the community alive through difficult years. The chapel once led the nonconformist movement in Wales and remains a witness to the faith of those early worshippers. In 2011 it faced demolition, but local people under Reverend Grenville Fisher and trustees like Melvin John Davies formed the Mynyddbach Chapel Project. Their aim is to turn the chapel and its grounds into an arts and culture centre while keeping its spiritual heart intact. The project now runs from the Calon Lân Centre, which shares the same site. Beside the chapel lies Mynyddbach Cemetery, where John Humphrey, the architect of the 1867 chapel, is buried. Humphrey also designed the grand Tabernacle Chapel in Morriston. Nearby rests Daniel James, known as Gwyrosydd, who wrote the words to the Welsh hymn Calon Lân. The hymn is so loved it is often called Wales’s second national anthem. The quiet graves and the chapel’s plain stone walls speak of a community that has shaped both faith and culture for centuries.