Welsh church unlikely winner of global competition

Nation.Cymru Staff

A small church in Eryri has gained widespread online attention after emerging as the final location remaining in a month-long online competition involving thousands of Reddit users.

St Mary’s Church, Beddgelert, was the last place standing in a challenge hosted by the Reddit community r/terriblemaps, which invited users to repeatedly vote out half of a map until only a single location remained.

The competition began with the entire world divided into two halves, and users voted on which half should be eliminated before the remaining area was divided again and the process repeated.

Over 29 rounds, continents, countries, regions and towns were gradually removed until the contest narrowed to a small area around Beddgelert.

In the final round, St Mary’s Church emerged as the last surviving location.

The result reflects a well-known aspect of Reddit culture, where online communities often embrace unlikely underdogs and develop running jokes around them.

As larger regions were eliminated and the map narrowed towards Beddgelert, users increasingly rallied behind St Mary’s Church.

News of the contest also spread beyond Reddit, with local residents joining the online discussion and helping build support for the village during the final rounds.

Reddit users praised both the village and the church, with one describing Beddgelert as “a gorgeous place”, while another wrote: “Beautiful Church. No wonder it won.”

As the contest drew to a close, supporters rallied around the church and encouraged people to visit.

Beddgelert is a popular tourist spot for exploring Eryri, with the Welsh Highland Railway, walks through the Aberglaslyn Gorge, the start of the Walkin Path up Yr Wyddfa (Snowdon), and the nearby Sygun Copper Mine.

St Mary’s Church stands close to one of Beddgelert’s most famous landmarks, Gelert’s Grave. The grave is linked to the legend of Prince Llywelyn and his faithful hound Gelert.

According to the story, Llywelyn returned from hunting to find his baby son missing and Gelert covered in blood. Believing the dog had killed the child, he killed Gelert, before discovering the baby unharmed beside the body of a wolf Gelert had slain.

Visitors can reach the grave by a short riverside walk from the church.

Local vicar Revd Kim Williams said: “We were quite surprised to learn that St Mary’s Church had become the focus of an online competition but it’s nice to see so many people speaking positively about Beddgelert and Eryri.

“I might be biased saying this but it definitely deserved to win! St Mary’s has served the local community for generations. We are always pleased to welcome visitors who come to enjoy the village, the landscape and the church.”