The transformation of the Rhondda Valley from an agricultural landscape in the first half of the 19th century to one containing more than 75 collieries in 1893 was a rapid one. Mirrored by population growth (951 in 1851 to 55,632 in 1881)as in many urban areas, it became clear that graveyards of churches and chapels alike were at capacity. In response to this crisis, a series of Burial Acts commencing in 1853, authorized the provision of Municipal Cemeteries by local authorities and in 1881 a parcel of land known as Llethr Du was purchased. Over 92,000 residents of the Rhondda Valley are interred in this peaceful and well maintained hillside plot overlooking Trealaw, including some 160 casualties of the First and Second World Wars.
Trealaw Cemetery Chapel was built in 1882 by architect H Jenkins and Contractor Hopkin Knill. It is built in the Gothic style in rock-faced sandstone with a Welsh slate roof.(Late drawing show a spire in place of the present pyramidal roof). Trealaw Cemetery Chapel is now Grade 2 Listed as the only surviving original Rhondda cemetery chapel, for its interesting design and detailing, for its dominating position within the cemetery, and for its group value with monuments to David Evans, William Evans and Daniel Thomas.

RCAHMW, May 2012