Newtown Baptist Church to close before being sold off

Newtown Baptist Church, which sits prominently on the corner of New Church Street with New Road, will hold its final service on Sunday (October 27) before it is sold by the Baptist Union of Wales Corporation.

The landmark Grade II*-listed church, which could seat 1,100 people, was built in 1801, enlarged in 1814, 1821 and 1836 before being rebuilt in 1881 to the tune of £8,000 which in today's money would be £817,000.

"It's a major blow to the town," said a congregation member. "But it's to be expected and very sad. It's an iconic building and I think a lot of Newtown people will be saddened."

The prominent Newtown Baptist Church sits near one of the town's main roads. (Image: Google Street View)

“There had been so many events which had been marvellous. It's been absolutely amazing in the history of so many people in the town.”

The Reverend Maggie Rich told the County Times that the church is looking to relocate to a smaller building in the New Year.

"It's too much for us to cope with the practicalities to keep the building in good condition," she said. "It's a huge building. It's just too much for us. We have an older congregation.

"There's a lot of history involved. People are sad but that's how it has to be and the only way forward.

"The story of the church is more than the story of the building. It's a story of the people, they are the church."

READ MORE | Newtown church reopens its doors following major refurbishment

Reverend Rich leads a three churches group which includes Newtown, Kerry and Sarn. “We regularly have over 20 [attendees] which isn't bad,” she said.

Over the years Newtown Baptist Church has hosted well-known visitors to the town, including Gladys Aylward, the missionary to China whose story, told in the book ‘The Small Woman’, was the basis of the 1958 Ingrid Bergman film ‘The Inn of the Sixth Happiness’.

Another visitor was Eva Hart, a survivor of the Titanic who was seven years old at the time of the disaster.

The cameras rolled when BBC ‘Songs of Praise’ was filmed at the church on October 3,1961 before it was broadcast the following Sunday.

Well-known musical artists including Welsh classical singers Shân Cothi, Rhys Meirion and Aled Wyn Davies have made the most of the incredible acoustics while performing at concerts inside Newtown Baptist Church. Newtown Male Voice Choir recorded their most recent CD there last year.

READ MORE | Plans to convert Newtown church into homes

The church had also until recently hosted the town's Remembrance Sunday service for many years.

The final service on Sunday at 2.30pm, which everyone is welcome to attend, will hear stories from older church members and hymns will be sung that have special meaning to the congregation.

It is the latest place of worship to close in the New Road and New Church Street area in recent years. St David's Church and Bethel Chapel closed in 2006 before the latter was demolished in 2021. The Newtown United Reformed Church and School House, which closed in 2016, could be converted into homes if planning permission is granted.