Bryn Terrace and Gospel Hall

The 5 houses on Bryn terrace were built in the late 19th Century principally as housing for workers at Talygarn House

Each house had up to 5 families living in it at a time – the 1901 census had 30 people living in the houses, though as numbers 2 and 4 only had couples there, numbers 1,3 and 5 had 26!

At the end of the terrace on land rented from a local farmer – David Williams of Llwynau farm a Gospel Hall was built.

It opened in 1930 and initially followed the Brethren movement. The first pastor was Fred Baggs from Llanharri. The second pastor was Clement Barnes who had come from Penzance. Clement and his wife had 6 children and was a Railway fireman and then driver. When he was a fireman his driver was Fred Baggs (the first pastor)

Subsequent pastors were Fred Newcombe and then a Mr Lewis.

The Hall was popular with 3 English language services on Sunday and a Tuesday night bible class. A Band of Hope also met here and there were also occasional magic lantern shows.

Sometime in the 1960s the original building was pulled down and replaced with a more solid construction. The Church closed in 1976 and the building has now been converted into residences.

For more information about the history of the community of Pontyclun please visit our online museum