Mount Zion Baptist Chapel – Glascoed People & Places

Mount Zion Baptist Chapel is the oldest surviving place of Christian worship in Glascoed, dating back to its establishment in 1810. In 1851, the chapel was approved to be used for solemnizing marriages. As mentioned previously many Glascoed people chose to be buried in the churchyard at Mount Zion, whether through religious affiliation, choice or even economics, since I was told that in days past it was cheaper to be buried in the churchyard at Mount Zion than at the local Anglican churchyards!

Look at this photo and the names provided by Glyn Williams, of the Glascoed Chapel Sunday School taken in the late 1930s.

Mount Zion Sunday School:

Back Row: (Left to Right)

Cliff Pardoe, Merfyn Williams, Don Knight, William Knight, Jim Jones, Cyril Williams, Philip Williams, Rev. W.R. Watkins

Second Row: (Left to Right)

Dick Knight, William Parry, Lyndon Topham, Glyn Williams, Gwenfron Watkins, Pat Lewis, Olwen Allen, Ciss Lawrence, Mrs Watkins, Sybil Williams, Mrs G. Williams

Third Row: (Left to Right)

Fred Allen, Roy Jones, Roy Knight, Denis Davies, Jack Meredith, Doris Leaves, Nancy Parry, Lily Topham, Jean Meredith, Betty Knight, Rose Smith, Nancy Herbert, Hilda Price

Front Row: (Left to Right)

May Jones, Glyn Pardoe, Merfyn Lewis, Bob Goodhall, [SPACE] Freda Parry, Clarice Topham, Margaret Lewis, Gwen Jones

The history of the chapel and nonconformist witness in the hamlet can be found in the following two booklets, reproduced in this section with kind permission of the authors.

The first, is the most interesting source I have read on the village to date: A. Glyndwr Williams’ “THE HISTORY OF GLASCOED CHAPEL from its origins to 1970.”
The second is a brief history of worship at Mount Zion.

In the “Death Records” section you will find Mount Zion Graveyard’s Monumental Inscriptions, including an index to memorials.

Glyn Williams’ Monumental Inscriptions – The earliest transcription I have, started in 1951, by Glyn Williams, the author of the History of Glascoed chapel.
David Woolven’s Monumental Inscriptions – A long-standing transcription from one of Monmouthshire’s pioneers of monumental inscriptions. Many thanks for all the hard work put in over the years!
Susan Wright’s 2005 Monumental Inscriptions which fills in some gaps in the other inscriptions – particularly those of later Inscriptions.

The Minute Books of the chapel, provide some fascinating details of baptisms, celebrations, fallings out amongst members, excommunications and the growth and development of faith amongst the residents and Ministers – along with the more mundane matters of running a chapel. They are worth exploring – you may find some nuggets in there. I certainly did!

I have abstracted the details of baptisms at the Chapel from the Minutes books and added them to the Birth & Baptism records section – which you can leap straight to via this link, or the button at the bottom of this page.

There are also several stories of Tea parties, and many other fascinating stories and tidbits in the Newspapers section.

A short account of one of the Tea’ Parties (also mentioned in Glyn Williams’ book) from the 1863 Usk Observer is one of those recounted in the Usk Observer pages within the Newspapers section.

The members at Mount Zion would love to have you join them for worship or even a cuppa at their social events. Why not check them out if you’re in the area? Their website can be found here: https://mountzionbaptistchapelglascoed.yolasite.com/

Mount Zion Sunday School:

Mount Zion Chapel links