A late nineteenth century outing to Capel Newydd by members of the church. Picture: Torfaen Museum.
PRIOR to the rise of the industrial town of Blaenavon, the village and surrounding farmlands were quite sparsely populated. The spiritual needs of the local population were accommodated from Medieval times by a small chapel on the road to Llanover.
However, once the ironworks were built in 1798 and the population soared with the importing of workers, the chapel became too small and the church of St Peter was built.
Initially the curate of St Peters Church also had to preach one sermon per week at the Chapel too.
Gradually, the Capel Newydd fell into further disrepair and became unusable by the 1860s.
The site of the Chapel is now marked with an iron cross.
Nostalgia is provided by Torfaen Museum.
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