About St John the Baptist, Callwen

At the very head of the Swansea Valley, in the rural village of Callwen, Powys, is St John the Baptist Church, Callwen. The church is located on the former grounds of a chapel dedicated to Saint Callwen. The church we know today was built in 1893 and also dedicated to Saint Callwen. It was not given its current name until the 1960s.

Historically, the church served the influx or workers to the nearby quarrying village of Penwyllt in the late 1800s. The church became part of the benefice of Abercrave in 1957, and later became part of the parish of Cwmtawe Uchaf alongside Capel Coelbren.