Dowlais (Welsh pronunciation: [ˈdɔu̯lai̯s]) is a village and community of the county borough of Merthyr Tydfil, in Wales.

The school (dating from 1819) was improved and extended, becoming "probably the most important and most progressive not only in the industrial history of South Wales, but of the whole of Britain".

[9] Steel production at Dowlais eventually ceased in 1936 due to the Great Depression, although the iron foundry continued until 1987.

In 2003 Dowlais was represented by an independent councillor, John Pritchard, who was also Mayor of Merthyr Tydfil.

St John's closed in 1997 but has received several hundred thousand pounds of Welsh Government money to preserve it.