L © The Bonau Cabbage Patch Capel Bethlehem Chapel The first Bethlehem Chapel was built in 1834 on the land where the current Bethlehem Chapel stands. This building was one storey, stone built on an east-west alignment and had a soil and mortar floor and a slate roof. There was no resident minister between the year of opening and 1852. During this period services were conducted by Ministers from other chapels in the area includingSeion and Adulam. Baptisms in Bethlehem would have happened in the nearby river Talbot. In 1875 the chapel was re-built and its alignment altered to north-south. The cost of rebuilding was £1800 and the membership totalled 117 members.  The first Minister of Bethlehem was William Rogers and he was inducted in 1852. He was a collier and lived in a cottage in the woods close to the Farrier’s Arms. He did not wear a collar preferring to wear a cravat - even on a Sunday. He raised a family of three boys and five girls. In 1898 the vestry was erected at a cost of £750. In 1904 Salem, a branch of Bethlehem, was built in Erw Fach. This was to cater for the local children who attended Sunday School and saved them from walking all the way to the other end of the village. Salem was also used for public meetings, children’s welfare services and the Urdd movement. The economic depression of the mid 1920’s saw Bethlehem Chapel having a soup kitchen and villagers were fed a staple pea soup diet In 1939 the land at Chapel Row was purchased to extend the cemetery. In the same year a new organ was purchased. A special service was held in 1946 to herald the clearing of the chapel’s debt and in 1956 the freehold lease of the land was bought. A stain glass window was installed in the chapel foyer in 1967. The purchase of a  new heating boiler and organ soon followed. Salem was sold in 1972 and later demolished. The site is now occupied by Practical Car and Van Hire In 1983 Bethlehem was badly affected by flooding and in November 2008 the rear boundary wall collapsed. A list of Ministers of Bethlehem Chapel: William Rogers 1854 - 1882 J. Young Jones 1883 - 1889 W. Walters 1890 - 1894 Richard Owen 1896 - 1928 Gwyn Bowen 1930 - 1962 Alun Jones 1965 - 2001 Carys Awen Jones 2001 - 2011   Please let us know if there are any mistakes in this document. We will check and alter the text where necessary. You can contact us here: pwllmag@gmail.com Source:   Llanelli History ©,   A Long Mile ©,   Bônau Cabbage Patch © Please do not take any content from this website without permission or approval. All original site content is copyrighted (2011) to Pwll Action Committee (The Bônau Cabbage Patch) unless stated otherwise. All images, text or items are copyright to their rightful owner(s). If there are any issues or concern with material on this site, please email/contact us directly to be provided credit or have the item(s) removed. We do not claim ownership to anything found on this site unless stated otherwise. The Pwll Action Committee (The Bônau Cabbage Patch) does not knowingly intend or attempt to offend or violate any copyright or intellectual property rights of any entity. No copyright infringement is intended.