Ebenezer, Trecynon

Ebenezer, Trecynon is an Independent (Congregationalist) chapel in Ebenezer Street, Trecynon, Aberdare, Wales. It was one of the earliest Independent chapels in the Cynon Valley and remained an active place of worship until 2009.

The history of Ebenezer dates back to the late eighteenth century when a congregation including Independents and Calvinistic Methodists worshipped together in dwelling houses, and occasionally succeeded in getting an ordained minister to visit them. The two denominations separated towards the end of 1799. The Independent cause then continued at the home of one Timothy Davies, which became known as Ty'r Capel (Chapel House) In 1804 the small congregation adapted a small house on Penypound for use as a place of worship, and obtained a licence as a house of worship in the court of Llandaff on 16 October 1804. G. Hughes of Groeswen ministered to the congregation at this time, but in 1809, Methusalem Jones of Merthyr took over, as he was closer to the congregation that his predecessor. Joseph Harrison, the future minister of Ebenezer, joined the congregation around this time.

A chapel was built in 1811 and although land had been offered by Griffith Davies of Blaengwawr it was decided to build at Trecynon, then known as Heolyfelin, literally the 'Mill Road', a reference to the Aberdare Ironworks at Llwydcoed which were established in 1800. It was said that the congregation gathered stones for the original building from the common above Trecynon. The builders are recorded as Morgan Shon Morgan, John Richards of Penywaun and Thomas Philip Richards.

In 1813, the congregation resolved to call a minister and they chose David Jones, a member of the church at Mynyddbach, near Swansea. Jones was ordained at Ebenezer on 29 July 1813. However, within three years, the area was affected by a depression in trade and Ebenezer could not sustain the minister, Jones departed to be minister at Llanharan and Taihirion.

Joseph Harrison, who had started preaching in 1812, became minister at Ebenezer in 1817 and presided over the church for the next twenty years. At the commencement of Harrison's ministry, there were only 26 members. However, its membership grew rapidly thereafter and it became the mother church of most Independent churches in the Cynon Valley. From 1828 until 1830 there was a period of revivalist fervor, and the increasing congregation meant that the original building was too small, and it was replaced in 1829 by a larger building that could accommodate around 600 people. The new building cost around £700 but the debt had been reduced to £240 by the time that Harrison's ministry came to an end in 1835.

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