| Ebenezer, Ammanford | |
|---|---|
 | |
| 51°47′29″N3°59′19″W / 51.7914°N 3.9887°W Coordinates: 51°47′29″N3°59′19″W / 51.7914°N 3.9887°W | |
| OS grid reference | SN629121 |
| Location | Lloyd Street, Ammanford |
| Country | Wales |
| Denomination | Baptist |
| History | |
| Founded | 1849 |
| Architecture | |
| Architectural type | Chapel |
| Style | Early 19th century |
| Completed | 1851 |
Ebenezer is a Baptist chapel in Ammanford, Carmarthenshire. Services at Ebenezer are conducted in the Welsh language.
The chapel was founded in 1849 by baptists who previously worshipped at neighbouring Llandyfan and Saron. [1] The earliest meetings are said to have taken place in a house in Field Street, with thirteen members in the first instance. [2] The following year, a new chapel which was named Ebenezer was built near Quay Street adjacent to a property known as Primrose Cottage. Primrose Cottage was subsequently acquired by the chapel and served as the chapel caretaker's residence until it was demolished in the 1960s and replaced by a car park. [1] The Rev. Daniel Jones of Felinfoel supported the church in its early years, baptising three female members in February 1850 and chairing the committee which oversaw the building of the chapel. [2]
The first minister was Dafydd Morris, a native of Pembrokeshire whose pastorate included Ebenezer and Soar, Llandyfan. Morris was minister for three years. The second minister, from 1862 until 1867 was Dafydd Williams.
In 1867, the Rev T.F. Williams commenced his long ministry at Ebenezer. The pastorate included Saron, Llandybie, until 1891 but thereafter Williams restricted his ministry to Ebenezer alone. At the start of Williams's ministry there were around fifty members but by the time of his retirement in 1907 the membership numbered 670. [2] During these decades the population grew rapidly as Cross Inn, renamed Ammanford in the 1880s, became a major centre of the anthracite coal trade. [2] The chapel building proved to be too small, resulting in Ebenezer being rebuilt and enlarged in 1877. [1] Ebenezer was again extended in 1895. [2] In 1907, on completion of forty years as minister, Williams was presented with a testemonial "as a token of their regard and deep affection." [3]
In the later years of Williams's ministry a number of smaller churches were formed in the locality as branches of Ebenezer. A schoolroom had been located at Pantyffynnon since the 1850s and this was established as a church in its own right in 1904, known as Bethel. Another schoolroom at Penybanc, built in 1893, became a church in its own right in 1912, known as Pisgah. An English Baptist Church was established at Ammanford in 1904 and finally, during the pastorate of John Griffiths, Seion, Tirydail was opened in 1913. [2]
John Griffiths was inducted as minister of Ebenezer in 1908, having previously served at Ponciau near Wrexham. [4] At that time, Ebenezer had around 600 members.
In 1919, Griffiths was elected to represent Ammanford on Carmarthenshire County Council as a Progressive candidate, comfortably defeating a Labour candidate. A few months later, however, Griffiths resigned his pastorate to move to Llandudno. [5] Within a few weeks, however, Griffiths reversed his decision and returned to Ammanford. He left for Cardiff some years later.
Griffiths was succeeded in 1927 by R.T. Evans, who came to Ammanford from Newport, Pembrokeshire. Evans was minister for seven years before being appointed Secretary of the Welsh Baptist Union in 1934. On his retirement from that role twenty five years later, Evans was elevated to the presidency of the union and the annual meeting of the Union was held at Ebenezer, his former church, in 1959. [2]
The poet E. Llwyd Williams was minister of Ebenezer from 1936 until his early death in 1960. Williams won the chair at the National Eisteddfod at Rhyl in 1953 and the following years won the crown at the National Eisteddfod at Ystradgynlais. [1] In 1962, Garfield Eynon moved from Seion, Cwmaman to become minister of Ebenezer and remained until his departure to Ebenezer, Aberavon in 1975. [2]
John Talfryn Jones became minister at Ebenezer in 1977 and has served for over forty years. Like many other churches, Ebenezer remained closed throughout 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic
Carmarthen is the county town of Carmarthenshire and a community in Wales, lying on the River Towy. 8 miles (13 km) north of its estuary in Carmarthen Bay. The population was 14,185 in 2011, down from 15,854 in 2001, but gauged at 16,285 in 2019. It has a claim to be the oldest town in Wales – Old Carmarthen and New Carmarthen became one borough in 1546. It was the most populous borough in Wales in the 16th–18th centuries, described by William Camden as "chief citie of the country". Growth stagnated by the mid-19th century as new settlements developed in the South Wales Coalfield.
The Baptist Union of Wales is a fellowship of Baptist churches in Wales.
Ammanford is a town and community in Carmarthenshire, Wales, with a population of 5,411 at the 2011 census. It is a former coal mining town. The built-up area had a population of 7,945 with the wider urban area even bigger.
William Nantlais Williams, better known simply as Nantlais, was a Welsh poet and a Presbyterian Christian minister who played a prominent role in the 1904-1905 Welsh Revival.
Watkin Hezekiah Williams (1844–1905), known as Watcyn Wyn, was a Welsh schoolmaster and poet.
Calfaria Baptist Chapel, Aberdare, was one of the largest baptist churches in the South Wales Valleys and the oldest in the Aberdare valley. The chapel had an ornate interior, including a boarded ceiling with a deeply undercut rose, while the balcony balustrading had a cast iron front with an intricate foliage design. These features were common in the Welsh chapels of the late nineteenth century. The organ was installed in 1903 at a cost of £850. It was played for the last time in 2012 by Robert Nicholls, during a Radio Cymru broadcast shortly before the closure of the chapel.
Joshua Thomas (1719–1797) was a Welsh writer and Particular Baptist minister, known for his history of Welsh Baptists.
Bethel, Abernant is a Baptist Chapel at Abernant in the Aberdare Valley in Wales and one of the few nonconformist chapels in the area that remained open into the twenty-first century.
Heolyfelin Chapel, Trecynon, Aberdare was a Welsh Baptist chapel established in 1855. Services were held in the Welsh language. The building seated 800. By December 2015 the chapel had closed and was for sale.
Gwawr, Aberaman was a Baptist chapel in Regent Street, Aberaman, near Aberdare, South Wales, formed as a branch of Calfaria, Aberdare
Seion, Cwmaman is a Welsh Baptist church, originally established in 1859. The chapel closed in 2013 but the church still meets at another location in the village.
Llandissilio is a village and parish in the community of Llandissilio West in east Pembrokeshire, Wales on the A478 road between Efailwen to the north and Clunderwen to the south. A largely ribbon development along the main road, the village is surrounded by farmland.
Gadlys Chapel was a Baptist chapel in Railway Street, Gadlys, Aberdare, Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales. It was formed as a branch of Calfaria, Aberdare.
Thomas Thomas was a Welsh church minister and chapel architect, also known as Thomas Glandŵr. He is described as "the first national architect of Wales" and the "unchallenged master of chapel architecture in Wales in the 1860s".
Bethesda, Abercwmboi is a Welsh Baptist church in Abercwmboi near Aberdare. Services continue to be held in the Welsh language.
Bethania, Cwmbach was a Baptist Chapel at Cwmbach in the Aberdare Valley in Wales. Badly damaged by an air raid attack in 1941 it was subsequently restored but closed in the 1980s. Services were held in the Welsh language.
Rhos, Mountain Ash was a Baptist chapel in Mountain Ash, Glamorgan, Wales. Services at Rhos were conducted in the Welsh language.
Soar, Llwydcoed was a Baptist Chapel in Kingsbury Place, Llwydcoed, Aberdare, Glamorgan, Wales. Services at Soar were held in the Welsh language.
Saron is a Baptist chapel in the village of Saron in the community of Llandybie, Ammanford, Carmarthenshire. Services at Saron are conducted in the Welsh language.
Calfaria is a Baptist chapel in the village of Penygroes in the community of Llandybie, near Ammanford, Carmarthenshire. Services at Calfaria were conducted in the Welsh language until recently but are now bilingual.