Former Sion Methodist Chapel
Sion Methodist Chapel sits at the top of Brynsadler hill just by where Llanharry Road turns off from Cowbridge Road. It was first built from1826 and rebuilt in 1863. William Evans of Tonyrefail preached at the opening service in 1830. It is also occasionally referred to as Seion Chapel and Zion chapel.
The later chapel is built in the Simple Round-Headed and Romanesque style of the gable entry type.
The Reverend William Williams (1817-1900) a well known Calvinistic Methodist minister ran a school in Brynsadler for some time and this was probably at this chapel
The origins of the Chapel seem to have been in a Methodist Society which met at Twll-y-Cardotyn (Beggars Hollow) in Talygarn – now known as Ty Newydd, a farm on the Cowbridge side of Talygarn.
The Chapel could seat up to 300, which was huge considering there was no upstairs and that the population of Brynsadler in 1871 was only 162 people. The earlier chapel was also large as in 1841 it normally had about 150 attendees plus 120 scholars. In addition in the evenings normal attendance was about 200.
Services were in Welsh and as the English speaking population of Brynsadler grew there were calls for services to be in English and for a time bi-lingual services did take place but by around 1910 the English speaking members had moved to Hope Chapel in Pontyclun
By 1974 this chapel had been converted for residential use.
Just down the hill from the chapel on the opposite side of the road is a George VI Post box
For more information about the history of the community of Pontyclun please visit our online museum