 Chapel life was central to valley life throughout the late 19th and early 20th centuries , but as with many communities throughout Britain , the post wars saw a decline in regular membership . To some extent , as the population declined the number of places of worship also declined , but this was exacerbated in the Rhondda by a process of linguistic change which saw a severe decline in the number of Welsh speakers . As a result , it was the Welsh language chapels , in particular , that saw a severe drop in membership from the 1950s , and the next half @-@ century saw many chapels close . By 1990 the Rhondda had less than 50 places of worship , and many of the buildings had been demolished . 
