LLANPUMSAINT HERITAGE
WALKING TOUR

The famous Welsh Methodist, Howell Harris rode into Llanpumsaint around 1740 and preached outside the church. He was the first person to bring the message of Methodism into the area though his reception was not particularly warm. A spilt developed within Methodism between the supporters of Howell Harris and Daniel Rowland and it was the latter's influence which eventually prevailed within the village.

To accommodate the Methodist worshipers, Bethel was built in 1827 and the 1851 religious census shows that 250 people attended the evening service.

Much of the success of the chapel was down to the followers of blacksmith, Dafydd Llwyd whose crippled wife Martha composed many of the hymns that were sung with gusto in Bethel during the 19th Century.

The sheer number of the Methodists in Llanpumsaint made it necessary to completely re-build a larger chapel in 1867 and their dominance continued into the 20th Century.