Country Wales, United Kingdom Founded 1859 Closed 2013 | Denomination Baptist Style Late 19th century Architectural type Church | |
Location Cwmneol Street, Cwmaman | ||
Seion, Cwmaman is a Welsh Baptist church, originally established in 1859. The chapel closed in 2013 but the church still meets at another location in the village.
Contents
Early History
The church dates from the early days of Cwmaman as a mining community. The first prayer meetings are said to have been held at the house of a John Weeks in Fforchaman Road and were mainly attended by members of Gwawr, Aberaman. The chapel was built in 1858–9, largely by the members themselves, and cost £300. It was rebuilt in 1870 at a cost of £425 and again in 1891 at a cost of £1,787.
The first ministers were Ebenezer Morgan (1859–64) and T. T. Davies (1864–66).
The Pastorate of Thomas Humphreys
In 1868 Thomas Humphreys became the minister, and served until 1910. He baptised 1,700 members during his 42 year tenure and died in 1911. Humphreys was a founder member of Aberdare Urban District Council and a trustee of Cwmaman Public Hall.
The 1904-05 revival had a profound impact at Seion, with many attenders who had been present as listeners for decades becoming full members of the church.,
Humphreys was succeeded by W.R. Lewis, who remained until 1914 when he moved to Hill Park Chapel, Haverfordwest.
The Pastorate of S.J. Leeke
On 14 February 1916, S. J. Leeke was ordained minister of Seion. Leeke was a native of Talybont, Cardiganshire and trained for the ministry at the South Wales Baptist College, Cardiff.
Later History
The last minister at Seion was the Rev, Gwilym Davies, Seion remained an active church until the early 21st century.