The Six Bells Baptist Chapel – The Bethany Chapel

The Six Bells Baptist Chapel – The Bethany.
The Six Bells Baptist Church at Six Bells was formed in 1897 as an off shoot of the King Street Baptist Church, Abertillery. At the time, less than a dozen coal miners of the Baptist denomination held their Sabbath meetings in the room of a small cottage in the neighbourhood. Some of the gentlemen who were instrumental in its formation were Mr Matthias; Mr D. Rees; Mr S. Mills and Mr Gatfield amongst others, their labours paid off and their numbers increased so that their services were carried on at the Six Bells Board Day School. A short while later a small chapel and schoolroom was planned at a cost of £560. A site, opposite the Coach and Horses Public Inn was secured and the groundwork for the building of the chapel began. The work of excavating was undertaken by some of the members of the church and was commenced during the time of the miners’ strike during April to September 1898. The plans were drafted by Mr Daniel Lloyd.

The First Chapel Building.
On Monday 18th of March 1901, the ceremony of the laying of the foundations stones at the chapel took place. At this time there were forty-four members on the roll and the Sunday School connected with the church had an average attendance of one hundred. 

The Ceremony of the Laying of the Foundation Stones.
The ceremony was said to have been witnessed by a large and representative gathering and those who laid the stone were as follows – The first stone was laid on behalf of Mrs Emmanuel of Griffithstown by Mr T. Salt of Aberbeeg who deposited £5 for Mrs Emmanuel and £1 for himself. The second stone was laid by Mrs H. Phillips, Lackawanna Villa, Abertillery who made a gift of £5. The third stone was laid by Miss E. Evans of Six Bells who also gave £5. The last stone was laid on behalf of the Sunday School by Mr Gadfield, the honour being accompanied with the sum of £20, Mr Gadfield himself adding a guinea.

The ceremony was followed by a speech by Mr T. Bevan of Abertillery. Rev J. C. Hughes gave a short speech and Rev T. T. Evans represented Blaenau Gwent Baptist Church. Others who participated and contributed were as follows – Mr J. Gunter; Messrs James and Emmanuel; Mr Kinson; Mrs Redwood; Mrs Gadfield; Messrs D. Rees; A. Redwood; William Redwood; J. Richards; Mr and Mrs Daniel Lewis of Cwmtillery; J. Cooper; Mr J. Morgan of Abersychan; Messrs S. Mills; T. Mathias; J. Down; Misses B. Probert; L. Lewis and M. Howell: The total contributions on the day amounted to £91. 16s. 1d. Equivalent to £11,559,97p in today’s money.

After the ceremony a tea was provided in the Reading Room. Tables were presided over by the following – Mesdames M. Matias; B. Davies; W. Harris; A. Jones; L. Lewis; B. Jones; White and Hanbury: The report in the South Wales Gazette stated they provided tea to six-hundred people.

The Original Chapel and Schoolroom Official Opening.
On Sunday 7th of July 1901, the Bethany Chapel and Schoolroom (as seen left) was officially opened. The minister on the day was Rev T. G. James of Cefn Tydu who preached three sermons, he was aided by Rev B. Davies and Rev E. W. Edwards.

On the following Monday Rev J. Edwards of Newbridge and Rev Howell Jones of Llanhilleth preached in Welsh and English respectively. Miss Tryler presided on the organ. The collections totalled £40 over the period of two days.

The Contractor and Architect.
The contractor was Messrs Weaver and Sons of Abertillery under the supervision of Mr A. P. Williams of Abertillery. The architect was Mr Daniel Lloyd of Llanhilleth.

The Need for a Larger Chapel.
Over the next few years the population grew rapidly which also coincided with the revival of awakening of 1904 and as a matter of urgency a much larger chapel was needed.

The New Bethany Chapel.
In 1905 an architect and surveyor were called upon, plans were prepared and tenders were invited. Many hundreds of tons of old coal level waste had to be removed for the construction of the new chapel. The new chapel was proceeded with and was built on the same site though in front of and adjoining the old smaller first chapel. It was said that the new chapel was to be built of a different style to the commonplace designs usually seen in other colliery districts.

The Contractor and Architect.
The contractors were Messrs Skidmore & McWhirter of Abertillery. The architect was Mr N. Gasenius Lewis. The cost of the new Bethany Chapel was £1,600.

The Ceremony of the Laying of the Foundation Stones of the New Bathany Chapel.
On Monday 16th of October 1905, the ceremony of the laying of the Foundation Memorial Stones took place. Rev H. Burgess of the Forward Movement at Six Bells gave out words and hymns. The architect Mr N. Gasenius Lewis presented each of the stone layers with a silver mounted mallet for the special occasion. The first stone was laid by Miss Lizzie Evans of Six Bells on behalf of Mr David Lewis of Llanhilleth who had donated £5. Mrs A. H. Wilson unveiled a stone that had already been laid a few days prior with a donation of £5, another stone was laid by Mr Wilson on behalf of the committee with a donation of £5. Mr T. Richards M.P., laid another stone with Mr J. Prichard who laid one on behalf of Mr R. McKenna M.P., with £2. 2s. 0d. for Mr Rogers with £1 for Mr T. H. Prichard with £1. 1s. 0d. and the same for Mr Symons of London. An anonymous giver left 5s. who had written a note “Mae fynghalon yn dweyd deg punt ond fy llogell yn dweyd umswllt” – “My heart says £10 but my pocket says 5s.”!

Mr Richard Cory J.P., and philanthropist laid the next stone and gave a £5. donation. Mr Gatfield who had laid the first stone on the original chapel schoolroom, unveiled a stone that had already been laid on behalf of the Sunday School and gave a donation of £20. to the treasurer. A stone was laid in the name of the juveniles who gave £5. A memorial stone was laid by Miss Lizzie Lewis in the memory of Mrs Annie Lewis and £10 was placed on it. At the end of the ceremony over £70. was raised and tea was provided at the schoolroom. In the evening a special meeting was held, Rev G. Harris of Cardiff presided. Solos were rendered by Mrs Selway, Miss Richards and Messrs Burton and Lucas. Masters Oswald Trilla and Willie Wilson recited as a result the evening meeting the days proceeds were increased to £80.

A Description of the Building.
The new chapel was built with a front elevation onto the road. The front entrance was through a well arrange porch leading to a spacious vestibule, from which access to the body of the chapel and galleries. There was a slight fall given to the floor of the chapel enabling all worshippers to obtain a good view of the ministers and also to help with the acoustics of the building. The total cost of the chapel was £1,600. It was reported that the financial position was better than most other chapels in the district though they were no visible means of payment for a regular pastor, the services were by means of “supply” ministers, of whom Mr J. Prichard of Church Street, Abertillery was in constant request.

The Later Years.
The Bethany Chapel is still in service today.