Historic Churches 2020

12 BCD SPECIAL REPORT ON HISTORIC CHURCHES 27 TH ANNUAL EDITION Fergus Connolly and Charlie Wellingham led the design team for Virtuous Circles with the goal of designing sustainable timber pods sympathetically positioned in under-used areas of the nave. These eco-pods are intended to be easily reproduced and almost completely reversible. Perspectives of the proposed pod at Turnastone: left during service use, and right at night when in use as visitor accommodation (Images: Connolly Wellingham) fundamental principles of a future roll out; churches need to be in a reasonable state of repair if an accommodation pod project is to offer value for money. Despite this original failure, a partnership was formed in 2018 with the Churches Conservation Trust, the National Churches Trust and the Herefordshire and Shropshire Churches Tourism Groups to try to bring forward Virtuous Circles II. In 2019 they were successful in their application to the All Churches Trust and the Heritage Lottery management models, options on how to develop and implement the concept and provide guidance for others who might be interested in providing overnight holiday accommodation in their churches. St Mary Magdalene’s Church at Turnastone has been chosen as the building to test the accommodation pod concept. However, capital funding will need to be secured to implement the Turnastone project once the development work is complete and the necessary permissions secured. Fund’s Inspiring Ideas Programme, which is specifically focused on the sustainability of church buildings. The funding was granted to develop the model of overnight accommodation in churches, carry out the architectural and design work needed, test the business case and implement a pilot for others to learn from. As one of the main aims of the project is to explore how (if the pilot is successful) other churches can engage with the concept, a key outcome is the creation of a development guide. The guide will include different operational