Capeli a chrefydd

Prif eglwys Anglicanaidd (Eglwys Lloegr) Blaenafon oedd San Pedr, a gafodd ei hadeiladu gan yr haearn feistri ym 1804-05. Fodd bynnag, ni addolai’r mwyafrif helaeth o weithwyr Blaenafon a'u teuluoedd yn yr eglwys hon. Addoli yn nifer o gapeli’r dref fyddent hwy yn ei wneud. Byddai’r Capelwyr yn cael eu galw’n anghydffurfwyr ac ymhlith yr enwadau roedd Bedyddwyr, Methodistiaid ac Annibynwyr.

Roedd Capeli yn adeiladau pwysig lle byddai pobl yn mynegi eu credoau Cristnogol dwys. Roeddent hefyd yn ganolfannau dysgu gydol oes, canolfannau adloniant, gwleidyddol a diwylliannol. Erbyn diwedd y 19eg, y capeli oedd yr ychydig fannau yn Ne Cymru ddiwydiannol lle defnyddiwyd yr iaith Gymraeg.

Ym Mlaenafon nos Sadwrn cynhaliodd band o fechgyn ifanc rhwng pedair ar ddeg ac un ar bymtheg oed gyfarfodydd gweddi mewn gwahanol leoedd ar y prif strydoedd. Toc cyn un ar ddeg o'r gloch roeddent yn cynnal cyfarfod yn William Street, pan aeth dyn meddw i'w plith a cheisio canu. Ar unwaith dechreuodd y bechgyn ifanc weddïo drosto, ac o'r diwedd gofynnodd y dyn meddw iddynt fynd ag ef adref a chael cyfarfod yno… Parhaodd y cyfarfod bach hwn tan ymhell wedi 11 o'r gloch, a chafodd y dyn meddw ei achub. (Cyfieithiad)

Evening Express, 11 Mawrth 1905

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  • Ebenezer Baptist Chapel was formed in 1825 following a split with Horeb. It was rebuilt in 1876 It closed in the 1980s and was later demolished (Acknowledgement Blaenavon Community Museum)
  • Horeb Baptist Chapel was opened in High Street in 1863 replacing an earlier chapel in James Street (Acknowledgement Blaenavon Community Museum)
  • Chapels had a vibrant social life This photograph shows a group of Blaenavon Primitive Methodists on a trip to Builth Wells in 1913 (Acknowledgement Pat Morgan Collection)
  • Chapels were often rebuilt in grander forms later in the nineteenth century. Notice how much more impressive the English Baptist Chapel looked following renovation in 1888 (Acknowledgement Pat Morgan Collection)
  • Congregations met in quite humble buildings in the late 18th and early 19th century This old photograph shows the English Baptist Chapel in Broad Street (built 1847) before its renovation in 1888 (Acknowledgement Blaenavon Community Museum)
  • Chapels also boasted sports teams youth clubs and women’s guilds. This photograph shows a women’s group at Park Street Methodist Chapel (Acknowledgement Pat Morgan Collection)
  • Sunday School extensions were added to many of the town’s chapel in the late 19th century
  • Outdoor preaching would also take place in the streets during religious revivals
  • Bethlehem Welsh Independent Chapel was the last of Blaenavon’s places of worship to abandon the Welsh language (Acknowledgement N.A Matthews)
  • A poster for a Musical Festival held at Broad Street Baptist Church in 1936 (Acknowledgement Blaenavon Community Museum)
  • Lion Street Mission Sunday School Coed Cae, 1907 (Acknowledgement Pat Morgan Collection)
  • Park Street Methodist Chapel was built in 1885 (Acknowledgement Blaenavon Community Museum)
  • Sunday School anniversary marches were held by the town’s many churches and chapels and would have been an impressive sight