Hope English Congregational Chapel, Cardigan

Disgrifiad

This photograph (4 in. x 2½ in.) of Hope English Congregational Chapel, Cardigan, has an inset picture of the chapel’s minister Rev. Evan Evans.
Evan, known in the family as Ifan, was born in Cwmbach, Llanwinio, on 1 March 1874, the eldest of the nine children of Rev. Dr. Dan Evans and his wife Mary (née Davies). His father, a well-known preacher and campaigner, was the pastor at Moriah, Blaenwaun (1884-86), Zion, Cwmavon (1889-1901), and then Hawen and Bryngwenith in Cardiganshire (1901-1927).
Having started preaching at Cwmavon, Evan studied at the Carmarthen Academy and then the University of Edinburgh, and was ‘called’ to Hope in October 1902. The report on this in Y Celt, on 31 Oct. 1902 (p. 1) describes him as a very promising young man, an excellent student, and a preacher worthy of his famous father. He was ordained there on 4 January 1903. According to a report in Y Celt (30 Jan. 1903, p. 9), letters of recommendation were read from ministers from Edinburgh and Cwmavon, and his professor from Carmarthen described him as a diligent and conscientious student and a young man of a pure character. At Hope, he was greatly respected, and regarded as a clear and deep thinker, well-informed about modern ideas. However, his ministry was doomed to be very short. In 1904, a serious illness led to his spending two months in Swansea Hospital, and, after considerable suffering, he died, aged 31, in his parents’ home, Brynhawen, on 4 May 1905. He is buried in the graveyard at Bryngwenith, where his funeral, on 9 May, was extremely well attended. Many tributes appeared in the local and religious press (e.g. Cardigan and Tivy-Side Advertiser, 5 May 1905, p. 5; Y Tyst, 12 May 1905, p. 5; Carmarthen Weekly Reporter, 12 May 1905, p. 3; Cardigan and Tivy-Side Advertiser, 12 May 1905, p. 5; Y Tyst, 17 May 1905, p. 9; Y Celt, 19 May 1905, pp. 1 & 5; Y Celt, 26 May 1905, p. 3).
The letter inviting Evan to become the minister at Hope, kept by the family at Brynhawen, is now among the papers of his youngest brother, the poet and Archdruid Wil Ifan, in the National Library (Papurau Wil Ifan, Grwp 1965/ 1,537).

The handsome chapel building, opened in 1880, was demolished in 1976 (see HOPE ENGLISH CONGREGATIONAL CHAPEL | Glen Johnson (glen-johnson.co.uk)