Welsh Baptists

Notable Churches in and around Llanelli

The information in this section is an edited version taken from Llanelli - Birth of a Town a CdRom by William and Benita Rees

Welsh Baptists

Welsh Baptist Associations Llanelli Baptists

When the Baptist cause was first established is not known, it is thought that the Gospel was preached in Britain in 60AD, long before Catholicism was brought to the British Isles in 597AD.

Henry IV’s decree of 1400 stated that heretics should be burned at the stake, and William Sawtre – said to be a Baptist – was the first person to be burned after the decree was issued. After Henry VIII separated England from the Roman Catholic Church some Baptists were executed by the newly formed Church of England during the ‘Protestant inquisition’.

The line of English churches who called themselves Baptists, began in Holland from which their history can be traced. It started with a man named John Smyth who was a bishop in the Church of England. In 1606, after nine months of soul searching and studying the New Testament, he was convinced that the doctrines and practices of the Church of England were not Biblical and he resigned his position and left the church.

Because the Anglican church persecuted all those who disagreed with it and refused to submit to its authority John Smyth was forced to flee to Amsterdam along with Thomas Helwys and 36 others who formed the first Baptist Church of Englishmen, known to have stood for baptism of believers only. John Smyth died in 1612 and the church ended in Holland. Shortly after, Thomas Helwys, Thomas and John Murton returned to England because persecution had eased and it is said that it was from this Baptist church that others were established in England. By 1626 the churches had grown from one to five churches and by 1644 there were 40 congregations.

The first Baptist church in Wales was established at Ilston on the Gower peninsula in 1649 by John Miles (1621-1683) a Welshman, who had previously taken orders from the Anglican Church. In 1649 there was no bridge across the River Llwchwr and so members of the Baptist faith in and around Llanelli who worshipped at Ilston had to cross the river at low tide, or by ferry, often in bad weather, to reach their chapel on the Gower.

With the Restoration of Charles II in 1660 Nonconformists were persecuted again and many decided to emigrate to the New World. John Myles was probably the first Baptist to emigrate (with most of his congregation) to the American colonies in 1662.

Ruins of the First Baptist Church

Ruins of Ilston Church on the Gower Peninsular

A plaque at the church site has the inscription: