Saron Chapels (old & new), Saron Road, Saron, Carmarthenshire

Description

Name: Hen Saron (Old Saron)

Denomination: Welsh Baptist

Built: 1814
Rebuilt: 1824
Enlarged: 1863
Converted into Sunday School: 1890

Name: Saron

Denomination: Welsh Baptist

Built: 1890 (on adjacent site)
Rebuilt: 1913

Photography: John Ball
Date: 18 October 2014
Camera: Canon IXUS 115 HS digital compact

Image 1:

Old Saron Chapel in the foreground obscures all but the frontage of its later replacement on the adjacent plot.

Note 1: The [old] chapel was built in 1814, rebuilt in 1824, enlarged in 1863. Built in the Simple Round-Headed style, gable entry type. Replaced by adjacent chapel (NPRN 6379), 1890. Status (1998): in Sunday School use. [Source: Coflein database (NPRN 97167)]

Note 2: [The new] Saron baptist Church was built in 1890 to replace the original chapel (NPRN 97167) on an adjacent site. The church was then rebuilt in 1913 in the classical style of the gable entry type. [Source: Coflein database (NPRN 6379)]

Image 2:

Old Saron Chapel with its burial ground to the right. Above the central window on the gable end is a stone plaque, shown in detail below (image 3). The badly eroded inscription reads:

SARON BAPTIST CHAPEL BUILT IN 1814 REBUILT IN 1863

Note 3: At the time of the 1851 Religious Census, Saron was in the hamlet of Blinog. The baptist minister at Saron was Benjamin Thomas, Tyrplasgwyn, Llandybie. In his report he wrote: Last Sunday we had no preacher, prayer meetings morning and evening. Our average [attendance] about from 190 20 200. [Source: The Religious Census of 1851 – A Calendar of the Returns Relating to Wales, Volume I South Wales, edited by Ieuan Gwynedd Jones and David Williams, University of Wales Press, Cardiff, 1976]

Image 4:

New Saron Chapel. Over the entrance door is a Welsh inscription, shown in detail below. The inscription reads:

SARON
CAPEL Y BEDYDDW YR
ADEILADWYD 1913.
ADEILADWYD Y CYNTAF 1814, AIL-ADEILADWYD 1865.

English translation:

SARON
BAPTIST CHAPEL
BUILT 1913.
FIRST BUILT 1814, RE-BUILT 1865.

• http://www.jlb2011.co.uk/walespic/churches/saron1.htm (link opens in new window)