St Michael's Church is the oldest surviving building in the village. The present structure was built in the 14th century, though it was extended in the 19th century as more and more people came to Betws, especially with the coming of the railway.
It has always been popular with tourists - even back in the 1700s when artists used to come here to paint. The most famous was David Cox, who stayed at the Royal Oak Hotel many times. He painted the original sign for the hotel, which you can still see in the reception.
St Michael's was a place the artists gravitated towards because it's so old and is located down by the river, surrounded by trees. It features in many paintings, one in particular by Benjamin William Leider. Another was on display in the museum of the Guildhall in London.
They came here because it was such a beautiful area. Various books have been written about it, including The Artist Colony, compiled by Peter Lord which includes lots of different paintings of the area.
Lots of the artists stayed for long periods of time and had houses here. Many of the houses along where we live, on the Llanrwst road, were previously owned by artists, including Ty'n y Fron, Rose Hill and Plas Muriau.
They built St Mary's, the bigger church on the main road, in the 1870s. In effect, from that time onwards St Michael's has been more or less redundant. It was still used for weddings until the 1930s and funerals until the 1950s, but then it was left to fall into disrepair.
We set up the trust in the 1990s to help save the church and we started the main restoration work in 2001, shoring up the building and making it watertight. Then we had to leave it to dry out because there was literally water dripping down the walls!
In 2004 we undertook the second phase of restoration, doing a lot of re-plastering and redecoration and installing some lights, though we still mostly have services by candlelight.
We hold two services a year, one on 29 September, St Michael's Day, and a candlelit carol service at Christmas. We also have a big flower festival, normally the second weekend in September, when local businesses and organisations create beautiful displays. It's an absolute myriad of flowers and the smell as you walk in is unbelievable.
We want to develop things further, hold story-telling evenings or small concerts. It can hold up to 70 or 80 people, though actually the pews aren't the most comfortable.
Jim Boughton
