Bethel(1904)

English Baptist, Park Road, Cwmparc

Built: 1874 [Sittings: 600]

The name of 'Bethel' can be traced back to the 1870s with the chapel built in 1874 but, as noted elsewhere, this was a Welsh-speaking Baptist cause. The English-speaking Baptists attended Horeb in Treorchy by no means a a short walk from Cwmparc.

  Image © Copyright Glamorgan Archives - Reference: MGCS/CS/54.124

As a consequence of The Revival, the Welsh Baptists required larger premises and with no prospect of rebuilding on the current site vacated the chapel which was then sold to the English Baptists. Bethel officially became an English-speaking Baptist cause on the 15th October, 1904.
    However the loss of many members from Horeb had a serious effect on that church who found themselves unable to support their own minister. The 'crisis' was only averted by the support of the Cwmparc Baptists who shared Horeb's minister for a while. When one considers just how many members Bethel had in its first year of available figures, possibly enhanced by the effect of The Revival, the evidence speaks for itself.
    As mentioned elsewhere, Bethel was a member of the Upper Rhondda Baptist Group. One of the ministers who served the group was John Edwards who had also been minister of this church between 1943 and 1952.
    On a personal note, my late father studied to become a Lay Preacher. Bethel was a regular venue for him. And I still recall that Sunday in 2009 as he sat at the dinner table announcing that Bethel was to close. That realisation was certainly part of my inspiration in commencing this site.
    And true to his words when I took the photograph later in that year the 'for sale' notice was evident. The building did not survive and was subsequently demolished. I believe the site is now occupied by a residential property.

Source Documents:-

MGCS 54/124.
'The Life of the Cwmparc Baptists to 2004' - David Brownnutt.