Gorphwysfa, Sgiwen a Bethel, Llansamlet Gorphwysfa, Skewen and Bethel, Llansamlet

Yn ystod y flwyddyn, cafodd nifer fawr o gofnodion eglwysi a chapeli eu derbyn, fel y gellir gweld o’r rhestr derbyniadau ar ddiwedd yr adroddiad hwn. Mae llawer ohonynt yn cynnwys cofrestrau priodas ac mae hyn yn ganlyniad uniongyrchol i’r newidiadau i’r gyfraith ynghylch cofrestru priodasau yn 2020. Roedd hyn yn ei gwneud yn ofynnol i’r Cofrestrydd gau pob cofrestr priodas, ac o ganlyniad cafodd nifer fawr o gofrestrau, a gedwir mewn coffrau eglwysi a chapeli yn flaenorol, eu trosglwyddo i’r Gwasanaeth Archifau o’r Swyddfa Gofrestru. Gwnaeth gyfnodau clo Covid ymestyn y broses drosglwyddo, ond mae mwyafrif y cofrestrau a ddisgwylwyd wedi dod i law.

Canlyniad tristach arall yr pandemig Covid fu tranc rhai eglwysi. Mae cynulleidfaoedd a oedd wedi lleihau, ac wedi’u gwahardd rhag ymgynnull yn ystod y cyfnodau clo, wedi gwneud y penderfyniad caled i ddod â’r achos i ben. Mae dau gapel hanesyddol wedi trosglwyddo eu cofnodion i ni, Bethel, Capel yr Annibynwyr, Llansamlet a Gorphwysfa, Capel y Methodistiaid Calfinaidd yn Sgiwen. Rydym yn ddiolchgar iddynt am wneud hynny a gobeithiwn y bydd eraill mewn sefyllfa debyg yn gwneud yr un peth cyn bo hir.

Dechreuodd yr achos yng Ngorphwysfa ym 1810 pan sefydlwyd Ysgol Sul yn Sgiwen gan gapel Bethlehem Green yng Nghastell-nedd. Salem oedd enw yr adeilad bychan a ddefnyddient, fel y dywedir wrthym, a nodir ysgoldy ar yr hyn sydd Bethlehem Road heddiw ar y map degwm. Erbyn y 1840au roedd Sgiwen yn llinell o fythynnod ar hyd y ffordd o Gastell Nedd i Dreforys, ond roedd gweithfeydd a glofeydd gerllaw a digon o waith i ddenu mwy o bobl. Tyfodd yr Ysgol Sul a phenderfynwyd ei chorffori yn eglwys Methodistiaid

During the year, a large number of church and chapel records have been received, as can be seen from the list of accessions at the end of this report. Many of them consist of marriage registers and this is a direct consequence of the changes to the law regarding the registration of marriages in 2020. This required all marriage registers to be closed by the Registrar, and as a result a large number of registers, formerly held in church and chapel safes, were transferred to the Archive Service from the registry office. The Covid lockdowns prolonged the transfer process, but the majority of the expected registers have been received.

Another, sadder consequence of the Covid pandemic has been the demise of some churches. Diminishing congregations, banned from congregating during lockdown, have regretfully taken the decision to bring the cause to an end. Two historic chapels have transferred their records to us, Bethel in Llansamlet (Welsh Independent) and Gorphwysfa in Skewen (Calvinistic Methodist). We are grateful to them for doing so and we hope that others in a similar situation will do the same before long.

The cause at Gorphwysfa began in 1810 when a Sunday School was established in Skewen by Bethlehem Green Chapel in Neath. The little building they used was called Salem, we are told, and a schoolroom is marked on what is now Bethlehem Road on the tithe map. By the 1840s Skewen was a string of cottages along the road from Neath to Morriston, but there were works and collieries nearby and plenty of employment to draw in more

Calfinaidd yn ei rhinwedd ei hun yn 1845. Rhoddwyd y gorau i Salem, oedd bellach yn rhy fach i’w chynulleidfa, ac adeiladwyd capel newydd o’r enw Zion ar Old Road. Mae’r adeilad yn dal i fod yno heddiw ar ochr ogleddol y ffordd gyferbyn â’r gyffordd â Heol Jenkins. Erbyn y 1890au, roedd hwn ei hun yn rhy fach, ac yn hytrach nag adeiladu eto ar yr un safle, daethpwyd o hyd i dir newydd ar St John’s Terrace, ac yno adeiladwyd Gorphwysfa ym 1893-4, efallai y dewiswyd ei enw i ddynodi penderfyniad y byddai’r achos yn aros yma. Gwnaeth hyn yn wir, nes i’r penderfyniad gael ei wneud i gau’r eglwys yn 2022.

Mae’r cofnodion mewn trefn dda iawn ac yn cwmpasu gweithgareddau yn Zion a Gorphwysfa. Mae set bron lawn o adroddiadau blynyddol yn ymestyn dros ganrif neu fwy o 1907 i 2013. Mae cofrestrau bedyddiau yn mynd yn ôl hyd yn oed ymhellach i 1861 ac mae priodasau o 1931 i 1992. Mae cofrestrau’r aelodau, a geir yn aml yn ddryslyd ac yn mewn cyflwr gwael, wedi’u cadw’n dda ac yn addysgiadol, yn dyddio’n ôl i 1850. Mae cyfrifon yr eglwys yn yr un modd yn drefnus a hygyrch, yn dyddio’n ôl i 1853. Mae cofnodion cyrdd eglwys yn llai helaeth ac yn mynd yn ôl i 1932 yn unig. Ymhlith yr eitemau addurnol a arbedwyd o’r eglwys mae sawl ffotograff mawr a rhestr anrhydedd sy’n cofnodi enwau saith deg o ddynion a ymladdodd yn y Rhyfel Byd Cyntaf.

Roedd pethau tebyg yn digwydd yn Llansamlet, dwy filltir i’r gorllewin. Dechreuodd Bethel hefyd fel Ysgol Sul, a sefydlwyd yn Nhai’r-ysgol yn 1815 trwy bregethiad y Parch. John Davies, gweinidog Capel Mynyddbach, ac adeiladwyd y capel cyntaf yn 1818. Wrth i’r cynnulleidfa dyfu, cafodd hwn ei helaethu ac ailadeiladu yn olynol. Ym 1839 ychwanegon nhw oriel, yna ei hailadeiladu’n gyfan gwbl ym 1850-51, gan ddefnyddio’r adeilad gwreiddiol fel tŷ’r gweinidog. Ymdrechion cymunedol oedd y rhain: roedd glowyr yn gweithio yn eu hamser hamdden i gloddio’r cerrig a ffermwyr yn helpu i’w gludo.

Genhedlaeth yn ddiweddarach, roedd y capel hwn yn annigonol unwaith eto ar gyfer anghenion y gynulleidfa a chafwyd trafodaethau ynglŷn â sut i wneud mwy o le. Penderfynwyd ailadeiladu yn hytrach nag ymestyn, ac felly gosodwyd carreg sylfaen yr adeilad newydd gan

Henry Hussey Vivian ar 7 Awst 1879 ac agorwyd y capel newydd, a godwyd i gynllun y Parch. Thomas Thomas, yn 1880. Gosodwyd organ ym 1931-1932.

Ar ôl yr Ail Ryfel Byd, dechreuodd y gynulleidfa ddirywio’n araf. Yn ystod y 1970au a’r 1980au rhannodd Bethel weinidog gyda Saron, Birchgrove. Yn dilyn y pandemig Covid, daethpwyd â’r achos i ben yn 2022. Er mai dyna oedd diwedd achos yr Annibynwyr people. The Sunday School grew and it was decided to incorporate it as a Calvinistic Methodist church in its own right in 1845. Salem, now too small for its congregation, was abandoned and a new chapel, named Zion, was built on Old Road. The building is still there today on the north side of the road opposite the junction with Jenkins Road. By the 1890s, this was itself too small, and rather than build again on the same site, a new plot was found on St John’s Terrace, and there Gorphwysfa was built in 1893-4, its name perhaps chosen to reflect a determination that this was where the cause would stay. This indeed it did, until the decision was taken to close the church in 2022.

The records are in very good order and cover activities in both Zion and Gorphwysfa. There is a practically full set of annual reports spanning a century or more from 1907 to 2013. Baptism registers go back even further to 1861 and there are marriages from 1931 to 1992. The registers of members, which are often found to be confusing and in poor repair, are well kept and informative, dating back to 1850. The church accounts are likewise orderly and accessible, dating back to 1853. The minutes of church meetings are less extensive and go back only to 1932. Among the decorative items that were saved from the church are several large photographs and a roll of honour which records the names of seventy men who fought in the First World War.

Similar things were happening in Llansamlet, two miles to the west. Bethel also began as a Sunday School, established at Tai’r-ysgol in 1815 through the preaching of the Rev. John Davies, minister at Mynyddbach, and the first chapel was built in 1818. As the congregation grew, this was successively extended and rebuilt. In 1839 they added a gallery, then rebuilt it entirely in 1850-51, using the original building as the minister’s house. These were community efforts: colliers worked in their spare time to quarry the stone and farmers helped out to transport it.

A generation later, this chapel was again insufficient for the needs of the congregation and discussions took place about how to increase capacity. It was decided to rebuild rather than extend, and so it was that the foundation stone for the new building was laid by Henry Hussey Vivian on 7 August 1879 and the new chapel, built to the design of the Rev. Thomas Thomas, opened in 1880. An organ was installed in 1931-1932.

After the Second World War, the congregation began slowly to decline. During the 1970s and 1980s Bethel shared a minister with Saron, Birchgrove. Following the Covid pandemic, the cause was brought to an end in 2022. While this was the end of the Welsh Independent cause at Bethel Chapel, it was not the end of the chapel as a place of Christian worship. Just as at Siloh, Landore, and coincidentally at Saron, Birchgrove, the chapel is being renovated and will soon be home to a new church.

Cymraeg yng Nghapel Bethel, nid dyna oedd diwedd y capel fel addoldy Cristnogol. Yn union fel yn Siloh, Glandŵr, ac yn gyd-ddigwyddiadol yn Saron, Birchgrove, mae’r capel yn cael ei adnewyddu a bydd yn fuan yn gartref i eglwys newydd.

Mae’r cofnodion o Fethel yn dyddio’n ôl i’r 1870au, felly nid yw ei hanes cynnar yn cael ei gynrychioli, ac mae bylchau yn rhai o’r cyfresi o gofnodion. Mae cofnodion eglwysig yn mynd yn ôl i 1877, ond mae nifer o’r llyfrau ar goll. Yn yr un modd mae rhestrau aelodaeth yn anghyflawn, er bod cyfres weddol gyflawn o adroddiadau blynyddol o 1941 ymlaen. Nid oes bedyddiadau na phriodasau, ac er bod yma fynwent, daw’r unig gofnod sy’n bodoli o bwy sydd wedi’i gladdu yno o arolwg o gerrig beddau a gynhaliwyd yn 2012. Ar y llaw arall, mae llawer mwy o luniau, wedi’u nodi’n bennaf, yn dangos gweinidogion, swyddogion yr eglwys ac aelodau o’r gynulleidfa. Er enghraifft, mae llun Miss Catherine Evans, a dynnwyd yn y 1940au, oedd athrawes yr Ysgol Sul am dros 70 mlynedd. Yn yr un modd, mae trefnau gwasanaeth yn nodi digwyddiadau pwysig ym mywyd yr eglwys, gan gynnwys gweinidogion newydd a gwasanaethau pen-blwydd. Yn olaf mae sawl recordiad tâp o gymanfaoedd canu a gynhaliwyd ym Methel yn ystod y 1970au.

Roedd y capeli hyn yn eistedd yng nghanol eu cymunedau. Yn ogystal âg addoldai, roeddent yn fannau lle gallai pobl gyffredin ddal swyddi o bwys, archwilio a defnyddio eu doniau cerddorol, cyfarfod a pherthyn. Ar gyfnodau pan oedd y Gymraeg yn cael ei heithrio o fusnes swyddogol a gwahardd mewn ysgolion, roedden nhw’n rhoi cyfle i bobl ddysgu darllen ac ysgrifennu eu hiaith eu hunain. Mae’r byd wedi newid mewn sawl ffordd, ond rydym yn cadw cofnodion eu hymdrechion er mwyn i genedlaethau’r dyfodol eu gwerthfawrogi. Rydym yn ddiolchgar i’r ddau gapel am roi eu cofnodion i ni ac yn gobeithio y bydd eraill yn gwneud yr un peth.

The records from Bethel date back to the 1870s, so its early history is not represented, and there are gaps in some of the record sequences. Church minutes go back to 1877, but several of the books are missing. Membership lists likewise are incomplete, although there is a fairly complete series of annual reports from 1941 onwards. There are no baptisms or marriages, and although there is a burial ground, the only extant record of who is buried there comes from a survey of gravestones undertaken in 2012. On the other hand, there are many more photographs, mostly identified, showing ministers, church officers and members of the congregation. For example, there is Miss Catherine Evans, photographed in the 1940s, who was a Sunday School teacher for over 70 years. Similarly, there are orders of service marking important events in the life of the church, including new ministers and anniversary services. Finally there are several tape recordings of singing festivals held at Bethel during the 1970s.

These chapels sat at the centre of their communities. As well as centres of worship, they were places where ordinary people could hold positions of importance, explore and use their musical talents, meet and belong. In times when the Welsh language was excluded from official business and discouraged in schools, they gave people a chance to learn to read and write their own language. The world has changed in many ways, but we preserve the records of their endeavours for future generations to appreciate. We are grateful to both chapels for giving us their records and hope that others will do the same.