A new site had to be located and some land in front of the Lion Hotel was purchased for £380. The cost of the new building was around £2,500 and it was capable of holding between 600 and 700 worshipers. The Rev David Davies retired in 1874 and only £700 remained outstanding.
The Rev RH Morgan followed as minister. He was a native of Dyffryn Ardudwy and received his early teaching there. He was secretary of the North Wales Association from 1883 till 1887. He worked hard to attain a place of worship for the English-speaking residents of Barmouth.
Also during this period a small chapel was built at Llanaber - 'Parsel'. It was a branch of Caersalem and held Sunday School on the Sunday mornings, sermon in the afternoon and occasionally a prayer meeting mid week. The first sermon is recorded as having taken place on June 1856. Previously meetings had been held at various houses, and Hendre Coed is mentioned in particular.
The third period of Caersalem represents the period of benevolence influence and a golden era between the church and the town. When The Rev Gwynoro Davies came to Caersalem in 1887, through his leadership membership increased steadily and in 1892 it had reached its zenith of 440.
Christ Church was officially opened in 1878 and became Caersalem's eldest daughter, with Park Road later becoming its youngest when it was built in 1893. The church had 150 members, mostly from Caersalem, but the mother church soon increased its membership due to the influence of the revival of 1904.
Like many societies, the Great War of 1914-18 affected the cause and naturally the membership diminished. By 1920 the membership was 347 with 100 children. There was a slight improvement the following year, but in effect this was the period of the beginning of the general deterioration in church membership.
Gwynoro Davies served Caersalem and the town with a firm hand and exceptional wisdom. He was elected chairman of the Urban Council for many years and was also a personal friend of David Lloyd George.
He was invited to lecture in America and was also a keen musician. His ideas and thinking were modern and innovative. He received many calls to various churches, but declined them all and always said 'the only Caersalem which would take him away from Caersalem Y Bermo would be the Caersalem above.
The same year the Rev EG Jones became minister and the membership stood at 250. In an article he wrote about 20 years later he says the membership had declined by 100 and he had only received three families as members during the period.
His successor was the Rev WH Pritchard. He was in America when he received the call and had not met anyone from the Pastorate but it was a good decision. During his tenure of office of six years Park Road closed and Horeb, Dyffryn Ardudwy joined the Pastorate. He left to take up a ministry at Pontarddulais.
In 1973 the pastorate invited the Rev RW Jones, Y Parc, Bala, to be their minister. He stayed for 20 years and faced many challenges, one of which was the dry rot in Caersalem. It was decided to close Caersalem and to have the Welsh services at Christ Church.
In effect the mother church had decided to go and live with her daughter, it was a happy solution which has worked well. RW Jones deserves praise for his work and when he decided to move to the Bow Street Pastorate - it was a hard decision for our pastorate to accept after his excellent ministry.
Caersalem started worshiping in Christ Church in 1983, and in effect this has shown the toll of diminishing membership, which has fallen drastically to 34, no children, one service on a Sunday and no weekly meetings. The future does not seem bright at this time.
Is there a brighter future to come, we hope so, our faith is strong and we can only emulate the work of our predecessors and give praise to the seven ministers and 45 elders who kept the doors of Caersalem open for all.
