Last Monday night it snowed heavily in Llantrisant, and it snowed more during the day. It looked nice, and the local children enjoyed it, but the pavements were extremely icy. Our first picture is looking up towards the Castle, which is all but reduced to its foundations now, save for part of one tower, and so not visible in this picture. What is obvious is the height and steepness of the hill. A good defensive position.
A ruined cottage in the old town. Picturesque decay. This and the castle - and the derelict Penuel chapel- bring to mind a verse of Neander's:
Human pride and earthly glory,
Sword and crown betray His
trust:
What with care and toil we fashion,
Tower and temple fall to
dust.
But God's power
Hour by hour
Is my temple and my tower.
The parish churchyard. Crowded with gravestones it takes up the same refrain, that what we do passes away,
"The world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever." 1 John 2.17
The former Penuel Calvinistic chapel. The ruined castle speaks of man's towers crumbling, this derelict chapel is one of man's temples. When God withdraws the preaching of His Word it is a great and terrible judgment. Man cannot keep the chapels open, only God, for only those who are drawn by the father can come to the Son.
The Guildhall, close by the castle, and the old town centre beyond. God alone has 'the treasures of the snow'. We cannot cause a snowfal like this one that has blanketed everything I can see around Llantrisant.
Looking up towards the Parish Church. The hills are covered in snow, and the world has turned white. Martin Luther is said to have used the illustration of a dunghill being covered by snow to describe our justification by Christ's righteousness imputed to us. Food for thought.
This is the scene that greeted me on Tuesday morning. And, I'm afraid, the way that I prefer to look at snow these days - out of the window when I'm inside in the warm! Actually I don't mind the snow itself, it's the slippery pavements. Stay safe in the snow!
This is a monument in the old Penuel burial ground in Llantrisant. The verse on the side, a quotation from John Henry Newman's hymn 'Lead, Kindly Light', is perhaps unusual for a monument in a Welsh burial-ground, even one so late as the date on this one.
This is the Old High Meeting (Independent). Dating back to the early years of the nineteenth century, it is now the Church Hall for the Parish Church (which is just out of shot behind the house corner on the left). It has been in the possession of the Anglicans for many decades now, but it was built as a congregational chapel. Internally no trace of its former function survives, but its little burial ground survives, now merged with that of the Parish Church.
The Old High Meeting was replaced by Zoar, this rather elegant striped building that dominates the approach to Llantrisant. Sadly it is no longer used for worship and has been converted into flats. It is built on the site of the home of the eccentric Dr. William Price, a 'free-thinker' and self-proclaimed druid who called his son 'Iesu Chryst' (Jesus Christ). After Dr. Price' death the Congregationalists bought his house, pulled it down, and built a chapel where the real Jesus Christ was worshipped for many y
ears.
The former Trinity English Presbyterian Church in the High Street is now a house. It was originally established as the English congregation connected with Penuel Presbyterian Chapel. The Trinity congregation merged with Penuel before Penuel too closed. The building was occupied for a while by a Pentecostal congregation.
