Heritage Now

10   HISTORIC BUILDINGS & PLACES FEATURE unaware, in separate sections of the ‘Connex- ional team’) face a growing tide of churches with claims to be historically significant and wanting funding or organisational support. The aftermath of the Covid pandemic, which has both affected church income and the actual use of buildings, can hardly do otherwise than to accelerate these trends. The Listed Buildings Advisory Committee (on which the author sits) has seen the lists of chapels for disposal which are listed or in conser- vation areas, increase gradually but relentlessly in recent years. And these are simply those which are either listed or in conservation areas, or with a claim to historic significance – a small minority of the whole. The preponderance of chapel closures are the ordinary, unremarkable buildings which have become an intrinsic part of the streetscape in towns and villages, over more than two centuries. While the Church of England, with its statutory status, has been able to resource the Churches Conservation Trust, with a portfolio of several hundred buildings, other religious groups are not in that position. The Historic Chapels Trust, from the 1990s, has only been able to gather a handful but now it too faces funding difficulties. However, it is not all a wholly negative picture. Some chapels have passed to new futures aside from sale and other use. In Cornwall the thatched chapel at Gwithian (1810) went into private own- ership 20 years ago to ensure its future. Penrose (1861), in St Ervan parish, was taken into the care of the Historic Chapels Trust in 1999, while ‘Three Eyes’, Baldhu (1836) remains a memorial to its builder, the eccentric and renowned Cornish preacher Billy Bray. All are open to visitors and hold occasional services. The large chapel at St Just (1833) is becoming a community centre, while Chapel Street (1814) in Penzance, which after an extension in 1864 sat 1,400 worshipers, has had alterations so it can also be used by a house church congregation. As the churches come to terms with changing times, some have already used their buildings to develop innovative forms of mission and minis- try – new ‘ways of being church’. Two churches in the Peak District have implemented interventions that have given new purpose to the buildings. At Edale (1811) a kitchen and toilet are being added (funded by a National Churches Trust Cornerstone Grant) to create a spiritual space in the country- side for walkers and cyclists and anyone who sim- ply wishes to sit, reflect and feel close to God in this peaceful landscape setting. At Fernilee (1871) a ‘Discovery Centre’ is being developed, helping people explore faith through worship, heritage, creative arts and wellbeing while using the lower ground floor to generate income as a commercial holiday let with occasional use as a retreat for those in need within the local area. In rural Devon, Horrabridge Methodist Church (1910) has been reopened after being closed for ten years as a cross denominational community hub for mission and outreach, incorporating flexible worship space, café, soft play area and counselling rooms. Similarly, in the Surrey village of Engle- field Green, the Arts and Crafts chapel has become the Village Centre, a cross denominational project with the local Anglican church and in Bristol the Victoria Methodist Church, situated next door to the Royal West of England Academy, is developing an arts facility. At Malton, in east Yorkshire, the chapel, designed by Wesleyan Methodist minis- ter and architect William Jenkins, is now in the process of becoming a place for wider community use, following an exciting (although sometimes unnerving) period of explorations and consulta- tions. In Poole, Dorset, after over seven years of thinking and planning, the five churches of the circuit sold four to redevelop the fifth in the town centre. Now called ‘The Spire’, located in the heart of Poole on the High Street, it boasts an all-day café (with adults with disabilities among its staff), as well as a superb worship area and large ancillary rooms used by, amongst others, the National Health Ser- vice and the town council. One challenge facing all churches is their envi- ronmental impact. The Methodist Church has set itself the target of reducing its carbon footprint to ‘net zero’. This is a huge challenge for historic buildings, but starts are being made. Pilton chapel in rural Somerset, and Bishop Street church in the centre of Leicester are among many now using green energies such as solar slates or solar panels Furthermore, the Methodist Church has recently introduced a ‘Property Development Committee’, which works in liaison with other ‘connexional’ bodies, as well as local churches, to support and resource positive developments. Recently, for instance, among many similar although smaller RIGHT: The interior of Malton’s historic 1811 Grade II* Wesley Centre, where work is about to commence on the first of two final stages of careful restoration and transformation, partly re-purposing the cubic space and rare interior as a classical concert venue, while retaining the chapel as a place of worship. (Visualisation: The Wesley Centre, Malton, North Yorkshire) St Just Methodist Church. One of the best and most important buildings of its type in Cornwall, was built in 1833 and later enlarged. (Richard Gowan)