---
title: "Bwlch y Sarnau Baptist Chapel"
description: "Located in Bwlch y Sarnau, Powys. Built Opened 21 May 1829; demolished and rebuilt 1900–01 (opened June 1901). Arts and Crafts; Simple Perpendicular style."
category: "Church"
tags: ["Church","Baptist Church","Powys","Bwlch y Sarnau","Radnorshire","Arts and Crafts"]
canonical: "https://thebritishgazette.com/post/baptist-chapel-bwlch-y-sarnau"
pubDate: "2026-09-06T01:25:37.134Z"
dateModified: "2026-09-08T00:33:08.038Z"
location: "Bwlch y Sarnau, Powys"
country: "Wales"
county: "Powys"
town: "Bwlch y Sarnau"
address: "Bwlch y Sarnau, Powys, LD6 5NE"
postcode: "LD6 5NE"
built: "Opened 21 May 1829; demolished and rebuilt 1900–01 (opened June 1901)"
denomination: "Baptist Church"
style: "Arts and Crafts; Simple Perpendicular"
materials: "Stone; box-channel ceiling"
website: "https://bwlchysarnau.org.uk/chapel/"
openingHours: "Sorry, there are no regular opening times for this church."
gridReference: "SO 029 746"
accessNotes: "Level access to the main areas"
---

# Bwlch y Sarnau Baptist Chapel

Bwlch-y-Sarnau English Baptist Church stands in the former Radnorshire village of Bwlch y Sarnau, Powys, in the community of Abbey Cwmhir. The present building of 1901 replaced a long-wall chapel opened in 1829.

## Overview

Coflein records Baptist preaching in the area from the later seventeenth century under Vavasour Powell; his portable pulpit, left at Brondrefawr farm when he fled arrest, is kept in the present chapel. Farmhouse meetings and baptisms in a stream near Hendy in 1826–27 led to a chapel on land given by deacon Josiah Pugh. Building began in May 1823. The first chapel was stone and mortar with a slate roof, built along the slope, with two south doors, a dried-clay floor and no heating; it opened on 21 May 1829 at a cost of less than £100. The 1851 Religious Census gave capacity as 150 free seats and 150 standing.

In 1900 the old chapel was demolished and builders from Llanelli erected a larger stone chapel in Arts and Crafts / Perpendicular style on a cruciform plan, the main body running north–south with the pulpit at the north, a small east arm and a west vestry. A box-channel ceiling was designed for acoustics. Commemorative foundation stones were laid on 15 August 1900; the chapel opened in June 1901 at a cost of £1,000, including fixed seating. Capacity in 1905 was recorded as 400. The chapel grouped with Rock Chapel in 1972 and remained in use in 2026. It is not on the Cadw list.

## Further Information

- [Coflein NPRN 8221](https://coflein.gov.uk/en/site/8221)
- [Bwlch y Sarnau Chapel](https://bwlchysarnau.org.uk/chapel/)