Holy Trinity Church is a

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the Church (building), church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in com ...

Sarn, Powys Sarn is a small village in Powys, Wales. The village lies on the A489 road east of Newtown. There is a bus service through the village, with buses to Newtown, Churchstoke and Montgomery. Less than a mile to the west is the smaller settlement ...

, Wales. It was constructed in 1860 and is one of a small number of churches in Wales where the parishioners voted in 1915 to remain with the Church of England rather than join the

Church in Wales The Church in Wales () is an Anglican church in Wales, composed of six dioceses. The Archbishop of Wales does not have a fixed archiepiscopal see, but serves concurrently as one of the six diocesan bishops. The position is currently held b ...

Foundation

In 1860, owing to the distance between local parish churches and the parishioners in Sarn, a petition was made to

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in January 1901. Her reign of 63 year ...

, the

Supreme Governor of the Church of England The Supreme Governor of the Church of England is the titular head of the Church of England, a position which is vested in the British monarch.

, with the signatures of both the

Bishop of St Davids The Bishop of St Davids is the ordinary of the Church in Wales Diocese of St Davids. The succession of bishops stretches back to Saint David who in the 6th century established his seat in what is today the city of St Davids in ...

and the

Bishop of St Asaph The Bishop of St Asaph heads the Church in Wales diocese of St Asaph. The diocese covers the counties of Conwy county borough, Conwy and Flintshire, Wrexham county borough, the eastern part of Merioneth in Gwynedd and part of northern Powys. The ...

to amalgamate the surrounding churches in the area into a consolidated chapelry. The petition also mentioned the Holy Trinity area, which only had a

chapel of ease A chapel of ease (or chapel-of-ease) is a church architecture, church building other than the parish church, built within the bounds of a parish for the attendance of those who cannot reach the parish church conveniently, generally due to trav ...

called Chapel of Llanfihangel in

Kerry, Powys Kerry () is a village and geographically large Community (Wales), community in Montgomeryshire, Powys, Wales. The village lies on the A489 road southeast of Newtown, Powys, Newtown and possesses two public house, pubs — the Herbert Arms and ...

to serve Anglicans at the time, though there had been a

Baptist Baptists are a Christian denomination, denomination within Protestant Christianity distinguished by baptizing only professing Christian believers (believer's baptism) and doing so by complete Immersion baptism, immersion. Baptist churches ge ...

church in the village since 1826. The Queen made an

Order-in-Council An Order in Council is a type of legislation in many countries, especially the Commonwealth realms. In the United Kingdom, this legislation is formally made in the name of the monarch by and with the advice and consent of the Privy Council ('' ...

for Holy Trinity Church to be constructed as a parish church to serve the people of Sarn and created the parish of Holy Trinity, Sarn to be under the control of the

Diocese of St Davids The Diocese of St Davids is a diocese of the Church in Wales, a church of the Anglican Communion. The diocese covers the historic extent of Ceredigion, Carmarthenshire and Pembrokeshire, together with a small part of western Glamorgan. The ...

. The church was built later that year with the church being attached to the existing chapel.

Interior

The interior of the church contains a font from the 13th century that came from the original Chapel of Llanfihangel. The

stained-glass window Stained glass refers to coloured glass as a material or art and architectural works created from it. Although it is traditionally made in flat panels and used as windows, the creations of modern stained glass artists also include three-dimensio ...

s feature images of

Jesus Jesus (AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, and many Names and titles of Jesus in the New Testament, other names and titles, was a 1st-century Jewish preacher and religious leader. He is the Jesus in Chris ...

blessing the children and of the

ascension of Jesus The Ascension of Jesus (anglicized from the Vulgate ) is the Christianity, Christian and Islamic belief that Jesus entering heaven alive, ascended to Heaven. Christian doctrine, as reflected in the major Christian creeds and confessional stateme ...

. The church also has portrayals of

Saint George Saint George (;Geʽez: ጊዮርጊስ, , ka, გიორგი, , , died 23 April 303), also George of Lydda, was an early Christian martyr who is venerated as a saint in Christianity. According to holy tradition, he was a soldier in the ...

and

Saint Michael Michael, also called Saint Michael the Archangel, Archangel Michael and Saint Michael the Taxiarch is an archangel and the warrior of God in Christianity, Judaism, and Islam. The earliest surviving mentions of his name are in third- and second- ...

in its other stained glass windows. The organ was installed in 1931 and was initially hand-pumped but later was adapted to be powered by electricity.

Referendum

In 1914, the

Welsh Church Act 1914 The Welsh Church Act 1914 (4 & 5 Geo. 5. c. 91) is an act of Parliament (UK), act of Parliament under which the Church of England was separated and disestablishment, disestablished in Wales and Monmouthshire (historic), Monmouthshire, leading to ...

was passed by the

Parliament of the United Kingdom The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, and may also legislate for the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace ...

to disestablish the Church of England, as it then existed in Wales, and set up the

. During the period while the enactment was delayed by the

Suspensory Act 1914 The Suspensory Act 1914 (4 & 5 Geo. 5 c. 88) was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which suspended the coming into force of two other Acts: the Welsh Church Act 1914 (for the disestablishment of the Church of England in Wales), ...

, nineteen parishes (including Sarn) were balloted by the Commissioners for Church Temporalities in Wales (commonly called the

Welsh Church Commissioners The Welsh Church Commissioners (whose full official title was "The Commissioners for Church Temporalities in Wales") were set up by the Welsh Church Act 1914 to deal with the disendowment of the Church of England in Wales, as part of its disestablis ...

) to ask whether they wanted to remain part of the Church of England or join the Church in Wales. This was because their parish boundaries crossed the border between England and Wales. Holy Trinity Church's parishioners voted 595–289 to remain part of the Church of England despite the church being located within Wales. As a result of the referendum, Holy Trinity Church left the Diocese of St Davids as that became part of the Church in Wales. Instead it was transferred to the Church of England's

Diocese of Hereford The Diocese of Hereford is a Church of England diocese based in Hereford, covering Herefordshire, southern Shropshire and a few parishes within Worcestershire in England, and a few parishes within Powys and Monmouthshire in Wales. The cathedral i ...

References

{{reflist, 30em Church of England church buildings in Wales 1860 establishments in Wales 19th-century Church of England church buildings Churches completed in 1860 Diocese of Hereford