Until the industrial revolution began, Merthyr Tydfil was a rural village. In the mid-19th century it became known as the ‘Iron Capital of the World’ and in 1804 Merthyr Tydfil was the first place in the world to have a steam powered railway. It ran around 14 km from the Penydarren ironworks to the Glamorganshire canal.

Calvinistic Methodists: Around 1738 Howel Harris preached in the area. In 1749 the Ynysgau Non-Conformist chapel was built in Merthyr Tydfil. Following disputes in the chapel leadership, in 1794 the Calvinistic Methodists left and built their Pennsylvania (later Pontmorlais) Chapel in the town.

Wesleyan Methodism was introduced to the Dowlais area of Merthyr Tydfil by John Guest (1721-1787), a Wesleyan yeoman farmer, brewer, and coal merchant from Broseley, Shropshire. John Guest in collaboration with Isaac Wilkinson (1695-1784) started the Plymouth Ironworks in Merthyr Tydfil in 1763. The partners in the Dowlais Ironworks in 1767 appointed John Guest as their manager in 1767 and shortly afterwards his wife Anne (1726-1763) and their children came to join him. In 1782 John Guest became a Dowlais Ironworks shareholder. John's son Thomas Guest (1748-1807) and grandson John Revel Guest (1790-1837) were Wesleyan Local Preachers. When in 1790 Samuel Homfray, the owner of the Penydarren Ironworks, Merthyr Tydfil, needed more workers for his expanding works he recruited them from Yorkshire and Shropshire. Many of these men were Wesleyans. The incomers started holding Wesleyan prayer meetings in cottages near St Tydfil’s Church. When the Nonconformists in the area were told that the Wesleyans sang during their meetings they considered it an innovation to be deplored. They were further horrified to hear that the blind Englishman John Drew accompanied the singing on his bass viol. As the people attending increased the congregation moved to the Long Room at the Star Inn. When they outgrew the Long Room they met in the open-air, often in St Tydfil’s graveyard using the grave stones for seats. Caleb Simmons was stationed to the area by the 1795 Wesleyan Conference and Merthyr was placed on the Brecon Circuit plan. The foundation stone for a chapel was laid in 1796 and Thomas Guest donated £50 to the building fund. The chapel, the first Wesleyan and first English chapel in Merthyr, was opened on 18 June 1797. A new and larger chapel was opened on 15 January 1863.

Welsh Wesleyans: When in 1802 Owen Davies, (1752-1830), the leader of the Welsh Mission, and Stephen Games were returning from the Bristol Wesleyan Conference they became the first Wesleyans to preach in Welsh in Merthyr Tydfil. Owen Davies was asked by the locals to appoint a Welsh speaker for the area as soon as possible. In 1804 James Evans (d.1820) was appointed to the Merthyr Tydfil English Circuit. A year later he was joined by Edward Jones, jun. who became the first Welsh speaking minister in Merthyr Tydfil and effectively the first Welsh Wesleyan minister in the town. The English chapel allowed the Welsh Wesleyans to use their chapel for services and meetings. During his two year ministry in Merthyr Tydfil Edward Jones Jun. established Welsh Wesleyan societies not only in the town but also in Cefncoedcymer, Dowlais, Tredegar, Rhymney, Ebbw Vale and other places nearby. In 1810 the Merthyr Tydfil Welsh Wesleyan Circuit was formed with David Jones sen. as Superintendent and David Evans as second minister. A chapel was built around 1811. In 1819 a gallery was added and in 1827 the chapel was enlarged. In 1854 the Vale of Neath Railway bought the chapel and new larger chapel was built in the middle of the town. In 1805 Thomas Guest encouraged James Evans and Edward Jones jun. of the English and Welsh chapels in Merthyr Tidfil to preach near to his home in Dowlais. Their open-air preaching sowed the seeds for the Shiloh Welsh Wesleyan to be opened in Castle Street and in 1843 the English Wesleyan chapel to be built. There was a dispute between the Wesleyan Conference and John Josiah Guest (1785-1852), the son of Thomas Guest, over an earlier plot of land for the English chapel in Dowlais. This probably caused John Josiah Guest to leave the Wesleyans and become an Anglican.

Primitive Methodists. The local records show that Ebenezer Primitive Chapel in Wind Street Dowlais was built in 1846 and that it was in the Nelson Circuit (Wales) .

Wesleyan Reform. In February 1850 Samuel Dunn and William Griffith held Wesleyan Reform meetings in South Wales. They held a meeting in the Independent Chapel in Merthyr Tydfil. They returned on 6 November 1850 and addressed a meeting in the Town Hall. In 1853 William Jones (1814-1895) left the Wesleyan Association and became the minister of the Wesleyan Reform societies in Tredegar, Merthyr Tydfil, and Aberdare.The Wesleyan Reform society was formed in Merthyr Tydfil around 1852.

Entry written by: DHR
Category: Place
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