More than 10 Anglican churches a year are closing in Wales.
The Church in Wales has shut 115 churches in a decade, about eight per cent of the total, leaving more than 1,300 still in use according to figures published by the BBC.
The figures follow the latest data from the British Social Attitudes survey which showed a massive collapse in numbers of Anglicans across the country.
There are 11 redundant churches advertised on the church's website. The former St Mary's Church in Bangor, advertised at £150,000, is sold subect to contract. The former St Andrew's in Colwyn Bay is for sale at £325,000.
Head of property, Alex Glanville, told the BBC: 'We're grouping a lot more parishes and congregations together, about 10-15 churches in an area, and thinking which ones can we sustain. There's a little bit more strategy – what's a sustainable congregation and where's the best place to do it?'
He said Wales had a lot of buildings in small and often remote communities with declining attendance.
Glanville told Christian Today: 'Nobody likes to see churches close and it is obviously sad for the whole community when they do. It's a decision never taken lightly by the local congregation.
'We still have more than 1,200 churches that are serving communities and when a church does close the community is served by another church in the area. Also, through our 2020 Vision strategy our churches are now working in larger "Ministry Areas" with congregations coming together for mission and ministry across wider communities. We are working very hard to find new and innovative uses for church buildings that do close, specifically affordable housing which is a major priority in Wales. Next month we are holding a conference for people across the Church to discuss creative and positive futures for closed church buildings.'
According to the latest census, Wales has the highest number of people with no religion in the UK.
Eddie Tulasiewicz of the National Churches Trust told the BBC he believed chapels were closing at the rate of about one a week. 'What may have been built in the 19th Ccentury for a population of 6,000 to 10,000 people has shrunk to 2,000 or 3,000 and there's no one left to go there.'
