---
title: "Bremilham Church, Cowage"
description: "Located in Cowage, Wiltshire. Built 15th-century chancel origin; refenestrated c.1850; present chapel on the chancel site after demolition of the larger church c.1874. Diocese of Bristol. Grade II. Simple single-cell chapel style."
category: "Church"
tags: ["Church","Church of England","Wiltshire","Cowage","Grade II","Smallest Church"]
canonical: "https://thebritishgazette.com/post/bremilham-church-cowage"
pubDate: "2026-09-06T01:32:03.696Z"
dateModified: "2026-09-07T20:33:20.029Z"
location: "Cowage, Wiltshire"
country: "England"
county: "Wiltshire"
town: "Cowage"
address: "Cowage Farm, Cowage, Wiltshire, SN16 0JH"
postcode: "SN16 0JH"
built: "15th-century chancel origin; refenestrated c.1850; present chapel on the chancel site after demolition of the larger church c.1874"
denomination: "Church of England"
diocese: "Bristol"
grade: "II"
style: "Simple single-cell chapel"
materials: "Coursed rubble with rusticated dressed stone quoins, ashlar dressings and stone slate roof"
website: "http://www.cowagefarm.co.uk/"
openingHours: "Please contact us if you would like to visit."
parish: "Foxley with Bremilham"
listEntryUrl: "https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1023220"
gridReference: "ST 903 860"
accessNotes: "On a working farm at Cowage; visit by arrangement with the farm or parish."
---

# Bremilham Church, Cowage

Bremilham Church is a Grade II former chancel, now an Anglican chapel, on a grassy mound at Cowage Farm, Foxley, near Malmesbury, Wiltshire, in the Diocese of Bristol and the parish of Foxley with Bremilham. It is widely cited as the smallest church still in use in England.

## Overview

Historic England lists the building as the former chancel of Bremilham parish church, of fifteenth-century origin and refenestrated about 1850: coursed rubble with flush rusticated dressed stone quoins, ashlar dressings and a stone slate roof. It is a single cell of a former two-cell church, with two round-headed lights under hoodmoulds to the south and east, a west doorway under a pointed arch, and a west round-arched gabled bellcote. The interior has an open rafter roof, a fifteenth-century font with quatrefoil panels, a 1729 bell from Foxley church, and mid-nineteenth-century wall monuments.

The Victoria County History records that the earlier undedicated church had a nave about 25 by 13 feet and a chancel about 13 by 11 feet; it was demolished about 1874 and a small chapel with a western bellcot built on the chancel site, maintenance charged on Cowage Farm under agreements of 1873. Amesbury Priory provided a chaplain from 1179. The Gauzebrook Group notes one annual Rogationtide service. The chapel measures about four metres by 3.6 metres, with seating for four on a single pew.

## Further Information

- [Historic England list entry 1023220](https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1023220)
- [Victoria County History: Bremilham](https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/wilts/vol14/pp9-13)
- [Gauzebrook Group](https://www.gauzebrook.org/churches/bremilham-church)