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Sunday December 17 will see the final service at Eglwysilan Church in Abertridwr.

A Christmas Carol service will be held at the medieval church at 11am.

The decision to close the building to services was taken by the Ministry Area Council (MAC) earlier this year.

In a statement issued in October, The Reverend Emma Rees-Kenny explained: “Approximately two years ago, the MAC agreed to give the church two years to see if it could ‘bounce back’ from the ravages of the pandemic.

“However, things have not improved, rather, if anything they are worse.

“The closure of the pub and the loss of the car park has meant that we can no longer safely hold large gatherings such as weddings and funerals and the regular Sunday congregation remains small in number with the responsibilities of maintaining the building falling on fewer and fewer people.

“As a result, in May of this year, the MAC requested that investigations be made into what options were available to them and last week, unanimously concluded that the only option available to us was to close the building and seek redundancy.”

She added: “Please can I stress that this decision has not been made by the diocese or the archdeacon, but by our MAC who have prayed long and hard about what was a very difficult decision. The decision was unanimous and our thanks go to them for their bravery and courage.”