In many ways the second half of the nineteenth century was a golden age for Welsh Protestantism. Numbers had swelled in its various branches over several centuries and continued to grow, both organically and sporadically through revivals throughout this period. The strength of Victorian Welsh Protestantism was consolidated through strengthened denominational structures and institutions and a blossoming Welsh press. There was also much spiritual vitality in evidence through the varied mission activities, both home and abroad. However, this seeming prosperity was misleading as an enormous cultural, social, intellectual, and religious shift was undermining old certainties and making the future more troubling.