Plans submitted to turn Methodist Church into flats

Saturday 05 June 2021

Proposals have been put forward to turn a 200-year old church in St. Saviour, and its hall, into flats.

The Eden Methodist Church on Rue des Friquettes had been put on the market for sale by tender in 2019.

Dating back to 1833, the church was one of the earlier Wesleyan Methodist chapels built in the island and is therefore a Grade 3 Listed building.

The grand Five Oaks-based property features a Gothic exterior and beautiful interior and Sunday School hall, as well as various outbuildings, an old stable and coachhouse now used as a storage space, and a holy cottage home and garden.

The latter was added in 1845 for the preacher to live in, with kitchen and washroom extensions added after the Second World War.

Plans have now been put forward by Eden Limited to create two three-bedroom flats, one in the Eden Chapel and the other in the adjacent Hall. The existing two-bedroom unit at the Manse, between the Hall and the Chapel, will remain as it is.

Pictured: The Chapel is located in St. Saviour, along Rue des Pigneaux.

The concept for the Chapel is to provide rooms as ‘pods’ within the large internal space where the congregation used to gather and to make use of the first-floor gallery. According to the Planning Statement compiled by MS Planning this will maintain the integrity of the space and the features which make the building “unique”, such as the windows.

There would be only minimal intervention on the outside of the building, namely on the rooflight and the dormer windows.

Inside, the rostrum would be retained and adapted to create a reading room, meanwhile the gallery staircase will be refitted after the installation of the thermal lining wall.

The gallery floor and balustrade will be turned into a bedroom, while the ceiling roses, mouldings as well as the wooden floors and wall panelling will be retained and refitted where required.

The unit created in the Hall would have access to two tandem where the garage is currently located, while for the Chapel one parking will be on-street, following discussions with the Parish of St. Saviour.

Pictured: Original features such as the mouldings will be retained.

According to the Heritage Impact Statement, there is no “realistic prospect” of the Chapel being reused as a place of worship or for another “intense community use with an income of a sufficient amount to maintain its fabric in the long-term”, especially since the Chapel does no have access to car parking.

The document adds that the biggest risk to the building’s future is a lack of use that would inevitable lead its fabric to degrade.

It noted that the proposals would “preserve and enhance” the Listed building in terms of use.

“The sensitive conversion of the Chapel and the Sunday school is, in these circumstances, the best conservation outcome for the Listed building,” the statement concludes.

“The proposal would preserve the most important architectural and spatial elements, enhance some elements of the building’s fabric, and make some adaptations to ensure the Chapel is given a viable use; functional and attractive as a single home.

“It strikes the right balance and would allow the significance of the building to be fully understood by future generations.”