Capel Ebeneser, Eglwysbach

Logo of Eglwysbach heritage trail

Link to French translationCapel Ebeneser, Eglwysbach

The first chapel on this site was built by the Wesleyan Methodists in 1806, two years after they began to meet at a nearby house called Yr Hen Gegin. The chapel was enlarged before being rebuilt in its present guise in 1886. A schoolroom was built in the early 1890s.

In 1922 a plaque was unveiled in the chapel to six members of the congregation who had died in the First World War.

The same day saw the inauguration of a new pulpit in memory of the Rev John Evans. He was born in 1840 and grew up on the family farm in Eglwysbach, attending the village’s National School and Capel Ebeneser. He started to preach when aged about 17 and within months was drawing big audiences to chapels. Chapel officials often took some convincing that this youth was the celebrity preacher they were expecting!

At different times he was minister at chapels in various parts of Wales and in Liverpool and London. He was credited with converting thousands to Wesleyan Methodism. His addresses were so powerful that his audiences sometimes entered a trance, forcing him to sit and be silent until emotions were back in check. He made two preaching tours of the USA and wrote many articles and books, including a biography of John Wesley.

The intensity of his work may have affected his health. In 1897, he and his wife holidayed in Asia, after a London doctor advised him to take a break from preaching. He died suddenly on a Saturday night in 1897, aged 57, after arriving in Liverpool to preach. In 1898, a chapel called Capel Goffadwriaethol Eglwysbach was opened in his memory in Pontypridd. He had started a South Wales mission in that coalfield town in 1893.

Postcode: LL28 5UD     View Location Map

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