Penuel Baptist Chapel can trace its origin to 1757, when linen-draper and part-time preacher Stephen Davies founded the first chapel on the opposite side of the road to Penuel's current location. Situated in Old Chapel Yard, the congregation was granted formal incorporation by the Baptist Association in 1778, with Davies as their pastor. Over the next several years, monies were raised for the building of a new chapel, which allowed the site to be purchased in 1786. The building was extended in 1797, before being rebuilt in 1817 and again in 1851–52. In 1909–10, Penuel Chapel was fully renovated, to such an extent that only the walls and roof remained from the previous building. Much of its current interior, including the organ and exceptional Canadian redwood pews and galleries, date from that time.
Supernatural occurrences Under
Rev. William Samuel Jones, who moved from the United States to Carmarthen in 1897 in order to head the congregation at Penuel, the chapel is said to have witnessed many supernatural "manifestations" and instances of "divine healing". Jones is also described as having experienced an ecstatic "baptism of power" during his time at Penuel. Miracles and supernatural manifestations were reported as having often been witnessed by the congregation at the chapel, so much so that by 1904 it was "common knowledge that they regarded medicine and surgery with contempt" in favour of
mysticism and
faith healing. According to writer and preacher Michael Marcel of Wells UK, Rev. Jones would have been "transformed" by his two "baptism of power" experiences, with Marcel noting that, historically, those who had experienced such "went from being an ordinary preacher to an extraordinary one". Jones' supernatural experiences and personal claim of "divine healing" from a medical condition are credited as contributing to the
Welsh Revival of 1904-5, a movement which relied primarily on alleged supernatural phenomena, exemplified by the visions of the Welsh evangelist prophet
Evan Roberts. == Architecture ==