The text of this article has been added to, with more photographs, and now forms the final chapter of the book Primitive Methodism in North Wales (2018, paperback, 151 pages), which is described, together with details of how to acquire it, on the ‘page’ of this website entitled My Books.

It is published jointly by the Wesley Historical Society (Wales branch) and Tentmaker Publications of Stoke-on-Trent.

Since the appearance of the book, I have seen a book published in Dolgellau in 1914, written by Griffith Owen, and entitled Hanes Methodistiaeth Sir Fflint [History of the Calvinisitc Methodists of Flintshire]. The Calvinistic Methodist District of Flintshire extented into Denbighshire, which is why the book contains information about the squatters on Newtown Mountain. It tells us on pages 439 and 440 that the squatters began coming in 1845, and as some of them were Calvinistic Methodists, they built a chapel – or at least, “a room to worship in” (ystafell i addoli ynddi) – higher up the mountain, known as Capel y Mynydd. It stood within the same squatters’ hamlet as the Primitive Methodist chapel. Some of them began leaving when rent was charged for their small dwellings, and moved down to Groes, Penycae. There they were involved in planting a Calvinistic Methodist congregation, who acquired a chapel that was opened at Groes in 1863.  They replaced it with a larger chapel in 1905, which is (2019) currently being converted into a house or flats. I do not recall where I found the image of the 1905 chapel, and if I have unwittingly infringed someone’s copyright, I shall be happy to make appropriate amends or simply to delete the image.