Volume Eleven - Pre-Victorian to the Present Day - some more aspects - The Growth of Wesleyan Methodism at Penarth . . .

The Chapels Heritage Society [1058] provide further information upon the history of the Arcot Street Chapel : -

Arcot Street Wesleyan Methodist - The congregation had outgrown the rooms leased in 1860 by Miss Morgan (later the wife of Lewis Williams, JP) and the chapel was opened in 1864. Galleries were added in 1882.

In March 1905 the building burned down. Its stone shell was later sold to St. Augustine's which moved its St. Paul's Mission Church into a restored building, the facade of which still retains the underlying design of the chapel frontage, differing only in details. Services ceased in 1965. [1058]

A fine book by John and Sheila Gibbs entitled 'Trinity Methodist Church, Penarth - A Portrait' provides the following educated background to the chapel in Chapter 2 - Methodist Beginnings in Penarth from 1860 to 1899. : -

The Cardiff Times from 1857 onwards never failed in its weekly issues to contain reports of excessive drinking and riotous behaviour in Penarth. There were 13 public houses for an adult population of 1,266 and no other recreational provision of any kind. The plight of the 'Navigators' who were building the docks was recognised by a Miss Morgan who determined to do what she could for their spiritual welfare. To explain her interest, the story needs to go back earlier in the century.

John Wesley preached in South Wales on a number of occasions and one of the results of his preaching was the setting up of a chapel, Bethel, in Cadoxton in 1811. The Chapel was in the Cowbridge Circuit of Welsh Chapels, the services being conducted in Welsh until, as the number of non-Welsh speakers increased, English became the medium normally used.

A number of people walked to Cadoxton for the Sunday Services and prayer meetings and amongst them was Jane Dickens, a housemaid at East Barry House. In 1860, a new Chapel was built in Cadoxton and Jane Dickens took her young mistress, Miss Morgan, to worship there. The experience proved decisive, and in 1889, the latter recalled how, some thirty years previously, 'In Barry, I first found Jesus Christ.'