Val & John Lewis <val@chetwynd23.freeserve.co.uk> wrote: We have recently had a marriage certificate where the marriage took place at Bethlehem Chapel, Llanelly, Brecs, Does anyone know if the chapel still exists and if there are any B.M.D. or monumental inscriptions available? ====================== Dear Val and John, I've copied (below) part of a message I sent to the Powys mailing list a few years ago (June 1998), after visiting Bethlehem Chapel, Llanelly: ---------------- I made the 40 mile trip [from my home] this morning, and can confirm that Bethlehem Chapel is definitely still there. It's not actually in the village of Llanelly, but in the parish of Llanelly, about half a mile due south of Llanelly Parish Church. Llanelly village is tiny, consisting of about 6 houses and the parish church of St Elli. The surprisingly large parish churchyard is marvellous and contains some yew trees over 800 years old. The grid reference for the chapel is SO231140. The chapel is in an excellent state of repair, and is obviously still in use. It lies on about a quarter of an acre of land around which there are a number of gravestones. The gravestones look as if they've been moved from their original positions, and are mostly leaning against the end wall of the chapel and against a boundary wall. Some of the gravestones are badly eroded and the inscriptions are illegible - others are in quite good condition. A notice-board near the entrance to the chapel states: BETHLEHEM BAPTIST CHAPEL Est. 1830 - it also gives details of the order of services, and the pastor's name: Howard Foster. The chapel was locked, so I couldn't look inside. ---------------- There is a photograph of the chapel in the 'Welsh Churches and Chapels Collection' feature on my website: www.jlb2005.plus.com/walespic/churches/ There is also an archived 'Images of Wales' feature available on Llanelly (BRE), containing several more photographs of the chapel, which can be reinstated onto my website as a 'Retrospective' on request. Kind regards, John -------------------- John Ball, Cwmgwili, Carmarthenshire, Wales, UK E-mail: john@jlb2005.plus.com John's Homepage: http://www.jlb2005.plus.com/ Images of Wales: http://www.jlb2005.plus.com/walespic/ Welsh Family History Archive: http://www.jlb2005.plus.com/wales/ GENUKI Breconshire Maintainer: http://www.genuki.org.uk/big/wal/BRE/ Joint Administrator - Powys (& BRE/MGY/RAD) mailing lists

Dear John Many thanks for the information. We shall certainly pay a visit to the chapel when we are next in Wales. Best Wishes John & Val ----- Original Message ----- From: "John Ball" <john@jlb2005.plus.com> To: <monmouthshire@rootsweb.com> Sent: Friday, August 24, 2007 10:08 AM Subject: Re: [MON] Bethlehem Chapel, Llanelly, BRE > Val & John Lewis <val@chetwynd23.freeserve.co.uk> wrote: > We have recently had a marriage certificate where the marriage took place > at Bethlehem Chapel, Llanelly, Brecs, > Does anyone know if the chapel still exists and if there are any B.M.D. or > monumental inscriptions available? > ====================== > > Dear Val and John, > > I've copied (below) part of a message I sent to the Powys mailing list a > few years ago (June 1998), after visiting Bethlehem Chapel, Llanelly: > ---------------- > I made the 40 mile trip [from my home] this morning, and can confirm that > Bethlehem Chapel is definitely still there. It's not actually in the > village of Llanelly, but in the parish of Llanelly, about half a mile due > south of Llanelly Parish Church. Llanelly village is tiny, consisting of > about 6 houses and the parish church of St Elli. The surprisingly large > parish churchyard is marvellous and contains some yew trees over 800 years > old. > The grid reference for the chapel is SO231140. > The chapel is in an excellent state of repair, and is obviously still in > use. It lies on about a quarter of an acre of land around which there are > a number of gravestones. The gravestones look as if they've been moved > from their original positions, and are mostly leaning against the end wall > of the chapel and against a boundary wall. Some of the gravestones are > badly eroded and the inscriptions are illegible - others are in quite good > condition. > A notice-board near the entrance to the chapel states: > BETHLEHEM BAPTIST CHAPEL > Est. 1830 > - it also gives details of the order of services, and the pastor's name: > Howard Foster. > The chapel was locked, so I couldn't look inside. > ---------------- > > There is a photograph of the chapel in the 'Welsh Churches and Chapels > Collection' feature on my website: > www.jlb2005.plus.com/walespic/churches/ > There is also an archived 'Images of Wales' feature available on Llanelly > (BRE), containing several more photographs of the chapel, which can be > reinstated onto my website as a 'Retrospective' on request. > > Kind regards, > > John > -------------------- > John Ball, Cwmgwili, Carmarthenshire, Wales, UK > E-mail: john@jlb2005.plus.com > John's Homepage: http://www.jlb2005.plus.com/ > Images of Wales: http://www.jlb2005.plus.com/walespic/ > Welsh Family History Archive: http://www.jlb2005.plus.com/wales/ > > GENUKI Breconshire Maintainer: http://www.genuki.org.uk/big/wal/BRE/ > Joint Administrator - Powys (& BRE/MGY/RAD) mailing lists > > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > MONMOUTHSHIRE-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the > quotes in the subject and the body of the message > >