Bethania

Bethania is an Independent chapel on Phillip Street in Mountain Ash, Glamorgan, Wales. Services have been held in Welsh since the chapel opened in 1854. It grew from a Sunday school started in 1850 at the home of Daniel Rowlands, later the Glancynon Inn. The first chapel cost £320 but soon became too small after the 1859 religious revival. A larger chapel seating 750 was built in 1859 for £950 as Deep Duffryn Colliery brought more people to the area. The chapel enlarged again in 1887 with a new vestry added alongside. The chapel has strong links to Welsh musical life. David Edward Coleman led the chapel choir and the South Wales Choral Union, which won first prize at the Crystal Palace competition in 1872. Coleman ran a grocery and drapery shop at 54 Commercial Street. Ministers included Thomas Llewellyn from 1854 to 1888, followed by Owen Jones until 1909. In the 20th century John Phillips served from 1911 to 1945 and Haydn Davies from 1950 to 1960. Bethania remains well preserved and cared for today. Mountain Ash and District Choral Society rehearse in the vestry. The chapel had 20 members in 2004. Its plain exterior gives little hint of the musical and cultural history inside. The building stands as a quiet witness to the Welsh religious and choral traditions of the Cynon Valley.