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A chapel dating back more than 160 years is being sold at auction for the second time this year.

Calvinist Methodist Bethel Chapel, in New Tredegar, has been listed for auction with a guide price of just £7,000.

Located on Ruperra Street, the chapel closed due to falling congregation numbers in September 2024 and was sold at auction by the Presbyterian Church of Wales earlier this year for an undisclosed sum.

It appears the buyer has now decided to sell the property on through Paul Fosh Auctions.

Bidding opens at midday on Tuesday, May 19.

Founded in 1860, the chapel comes complete with pulpits, pews and intricate gallery balustrades.

Sean Roper, of Paul Fosh Auctions, said: “The former church is crammed with a host of original features. In fact, the church looks very much as it must have done when the last member of the congregation and the minister left the fabulous building for the last time.

“The auction sale offers someone with vision an ideal opportunity to perhaps convert it into a residential home or community use, subject to obtaining the necessary planning consents.”

The sale comes as a major lottery-funded project aims to document the future of Wales’ chapels and nonconformist heritage.

The Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales (RCAHMW) has secured funding from the National Lottery Heritage Fund for its “Capeli Cymru: Preserving the Nonconformist Heritage of Wales” project, which will create the first nationwide survey of Welsh chapels in more than a century.

As well as recording chapels still used for worship, the project will examine buildings that have been converted, repurposed or left vacant.

The project follows growing concerns over the decline in chapel attendance across Wales. A recent report by think tank the Bevan Foundation estimated that around a quarter of places of worship in Wales have closed over the past decade. The report warned that once buildings lose their original purpose, they can quickly fall into disrepair and become symbols of decline within communities.