Welsh Chapels and Churches
Croeso/Welcome

This website presents some of the photographs that I have collected in the course of my family history research, along with many others provided by friends and visitors to this site, to whom I owe my sincere thanks.

At present these chapel photos cover mainly parts of Glamorgan, and a few from Montgomeryshire and Pembrokeshire, but with help I hope it will soon expand.  Click on the county buttons above to see small pictures, then click on those to see larger copies.  Small pictures are arranged alphabetically by place name.

It is a depressing sight to see so many of these chapels, once almost heaving with people singing praises to the Lord, falling into disuse and deterioration. These are the buildings where once our ancestors prayed, married, and baptised their children. Here were the places of learning, evening classes, and Sunday Schools.  Here prizes were given out and Sunday School outings and trips arranged.

Sadly many of these chapels are very large and cannot easily be converted into homes, as they have in some areas. Conversion of large chapels into Community Centres like that of Soar, Penygraig, Rhondda is something to be applauded, but obviously there can be only one community centre in a village/township. Our ancestors could not have conceived that these large buildings that they raised money for would one day, all too soon, be of little value and become burdensome on their communities.

If you have any church or chapel photos which are not shown, or earlier ones of those converted or demolished institutions, I will be happy to have copies of these to include in this website. Due credit will be given.

Jill Muir

March 2008