A DEBATE has broken out in the letters pages of a national newspaper over tiny Bremilham Church’s status as the smallest English church in use.

The 12ft by 12ft building at Foxley near Malmesbury is listed in the Guinness Book of Records with room for just 10 people seated and standing. It is also thought by some to be the smallest of its kind in Britain.

But worshippers at tiny Chapel of St Trillo in Rhos-on-Sea in Wales believe theirs is the UK’s smallest church – even though it can accommodate a slightly bigger congregation.

There have been claims and counter claims in the Daily Telegraph. But Bindy Collins, whose family restored Bremilham to it’s original purpose after it was used as a turkey shed for years, is bemused by the argument.

"We’re not claiming anything," she said. "It is just what is in the Guinness Book of Records.

"We don’t make much fuss about it, we just keep it watertight."

It is used on rogation Sunday and for occasional christenings. "My husband is buried up there and I am going to be buried up there," said Mrs Collins.

The church sits among the agricultural buildings at historic Cowage Farm on the site of a much larger church that was demolished in the 1800s.

After the Collins family took over the farm in 1955 they cleaned out the church, put in windows, fixed the roof and had it blessed.

St Trillo’s, which has just enough room for 20 worshippers at a push, is thought to date back to the 16th or 17th Century and stands on the site of a spring said to have been first used by 6th Century missionary St Trillo.

It is not licensed for weddings, funerals or baptisms, but holds services on Friday mornings.