Community Life

Hand and hand- Religion and Education

As the Nant developed, a wooden building was erected to hold religious meetings, known as "Y Babell Goed" (The wooden pavilion). This was built close to where Caffi Meinir stands today.

But as the number of villagers increased, a new building was needed to house religious meetings. Capel Seilo was built in 1878 at a cost of £300. Seilo had enough seating space for 130 people, with services held in both Welsh and English.



By 1900, Capel Seilo had forty members or so; over thirty children attended chapel and around sixty attended Sunday School. The chapel became central to village life and residents enjoyed regular Band of Hope, prayer meetings and seiat meetings. Capel Seilo still stands today, but the old Babell Goed was destroyed in a storm.




The first school to be held in the village was in one of the houses in Mountain View. The minister was employed by the quarry company to hold a daily, privately funded school for the children.

The quarries production was at its peak between 1878 and the First World War. During this period, as the number of school attendees grew, it was decided to hold the school in part of Capel Seilo.





In 1908 Caernarfonshire Education Committee took charge of the school in an attempt to improve the education standards. When Her Majesty’s Inspectors visited school in 1910, they were extremely unhappy about the school’s condition and the level of teaching. He also suggested changing the school’s name "from the hybrid Port Nant into the suggestive Nant Gwrtheyrn".







Attendance certificate of Annie Mair Jones, who was present every day of the school year, 1937-8.