THE oldest standing Baptist chapel in Wales is to receive emergency care from a Breconshire community group while efforts are made to trace its owners.

Storms have left the friendless Salem Baptist Chapel in Hay-on-Wye with a gaping hole in its roof and at risk of becoming dilapidated.

However Hay Community Interest Company, which renovated the Cheese Market, has taken the little chapel under its wing, together with Hay History Group.

A “modest surplus” of money raised from the letting of the Cheese Market and the holiday flat above is being made available by the CIC for community projects and top of the list for the newly launched scheme is the chapel, built into the town’s medieval walls.

The Baptist chapel at Bell Bank was founded in 1650, although the building may be even older. It was rebuilt in 1878, but attached to the building is an old school house, believed to have been built at the same time as the original, and is now used by a group restoring a model of Hay’s railway.

The History Group’s Mari Fforde said the group has been interested in the chapel for two years and when storms in December last year blew slates off the roof she was tasked with tracing the owner.

“It’s not owned by the Baptist Union but by some private trustees. It’s trying to discover who they are. NatWest bank in Hay had the trustee’s paperwork in its vault but that was removed in 2009. Whoever was responsible at the time took the paperwork,” explained Mari.

She added: “We want to apply for funding to have the roof fixed and have a community space, but we don’t want to until we know who the benefactor of the funding will be. That’s a real sticking point.

“We need to find the trustees. It’s a strange thing that happens with non-conformist buildings. Sometimes they are registered with a group but held in trust by private trustees who have legal ownership. The CIC will also help fund some legal advice on that. It is something that can happen with religious buildings.”

Researching the history of the stone chapel she has discovered that it was the second Baptist chapel to have been built in Wales by John Myles and is now the oldest standing.

Little remains of Myles’ first chapel at Ilston on the Gower, built in 1649.

Manager of the Cheese Market, Clare Purcell, said Hay’s Community Interest Company now has a modest pot of money for community projects.

“The CIC set up in 2008. The Cheese Market was the first project. It has been trading for a year and has some modest surplus. Some money is kept aside for ongoing repairs and maintenance but we wanted, as a community enterprise, to put some money back into the community.

“There’s an application form. Groups or individuals can apply for funding for projects that will benefit Hay and its immediate environs,” said Clare.

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