Districts & Places
Morriston
The New Libanus Chapel was later named Tabernacle Welsh
Congregational or Independent Chapel.
Tabernacle is the largest chapel in
Wales
, it was
officially opened on 22nd December 1872 and could seat 1,450
persons, the total cost came to £17,000 under the direction of Foreman Daniel
Edwards, who was the founder of Dyffryn Tinplate Works. The
Bath
stone was dressed at Morriston by Joseph Gilbert who brought a gang of men from
Bristol
to do
the work.
Much of the Victorian character of the eastern
side of
Woodfield Street
has been lost with the erection of large supermarkets. However, also on this side
is the Tabernacle (Welsh Congregational or Independent) the so
called 'Cathedral of Welsh nonconformity’ which dominates the Morriston landscape.
It
belongs to the boom period of chapel building between 1870 and 1910 when the
membership was rapidly increasing. William Emlyn Jones, minister of Libanus, persuaded
John Humphreys, deacon in Mynyddbach to be architect and Daniel Edwards to build
it. The three visited many chapels in
England
before drawing up their
plan. The chapel originally called Libanus was opened in 1872, incorporating a
mixture of styles, Classical, Romanesque and Gothic. Both the City Council and the
Wales Committee of Heritage Year have given Tabernacle grants for the repairs
of its roof and the Chapel members are active in restoration.
The
first minister was The Reverend William Emlyn Jones. Tabernacle also had four
Sunday Schools.
