Hundred fight plans for church renovation

Hundreds of people are fighting against plans to renovate a Grade II listed church in Shaw that has partially collapsed. The chapel was abandoned in 1975 and is now dangerous but could have a new future under plans put forward.

The chapel at St Paul’s Methodist Church on Rochdale Road in Shaw was built in 1863 with a number of school and nursery buildings added over the decades. The church has had a long history but after years of being closed, the roof of the chapel partially collapsed in February 2019 and things have only got worse since.

In 2018, Joanne Balforth, the Methodist Conservation officer said a collapse of the building ‘would be catastrophic as it is near houses, a main road, and there is a nursery operating from the site’. Works were carried out in 2019 following the collapse to make the building safer and past owners have been criticised for how they left the historic building.

The building is considered ‘extremely unsafe’ and while some ‘fragments of the decorative plasterwork frieze remain’. Scaffolding was put up ‘to protect the public’ as ‘the perilous state of the building and the risk to the public mean that there is not time to consider the future of the building’.

Plans have been put forward to carry out further works to the building. Mohammadia Masjid and Islamic Centre bought the site in 2021 in the hopes of establishing ‘a community social and religious assembly’. Part of the chapel wall was accidentally knocked down during site clearance works but it has been promised this will be reinstated.

A planning statement said the new owners care about the building, adding: “Options to prop the building from the inside have been explored, but it is not possible to get safely inside the structure, both due to the debris and potential asbestos contamination.

“It is not safe to enter the structure to take samples. Things are further complicated by a large number of burials known to be under the chapel floor. Historical records are only descriptive and cannot be used to accurately map where bodies are buried.

“Measures have been taken to mitigate the harm. The demolition so far has been done carefully recording the front elevation and all stonework has been recorded and stored safely on site, so that it could potentially be rebuilt in future.

“The key details to the side elevation have also been kept. Samples of the decorative plasterwork have been moved to the Sunday School part of the building to protect them from the weather.

“Photographic records have been kept during the works to record what little historic detail was left. However, we are now faced with a situation where we are fighting gravity and trying to prevent an uncontrolled and dangerous collapse.

“It was extremely fortunate no one was hurt when the roof collapsed, but leaving the scaffold in place to protect the public is not a viable long-term solution and the structure needs to be made safe as soon as possible.”

Plans were first submitted to the council in July 2022 and an application for full planning permission as well as consent to do work to a listed building will be presented to Oldham councillors on July 8.

They are being asked to consider approving the partial reconstruction of the Church and Sunday School buildings, including the reinstatement of a collapsed gable wall, the formation of a new permanent gable, and repairs to the structural and architectural elements.

The scheme also includes the formation of a landscaped garden within the existing graveyard to the front of the chapel as well as the refurbishment and repair of railings.

However the application is coming to committee due to ‘the level of concern surrounding these applications in the local community’. A number of organisations have raised concerns and one petition has been signed by 338 people.

One concern is that ‘only 24 spaces are proposed for a use that could attract 300–500 visitors, especially on Fridays’ and ‘local streets are already overloaded, with pressure on parking for residents and businesses’. There are also complaints ‘the proposal does not amount to faithful reconstruction, especially if salvaged materials are not reused’.

There are also concerns about late-night traffic as well as overdevelopment of the site. The council report said there was also ‘perceived use of the site as a mosque or Islamic centre’ which would lead to a ‘potential loss of Christian heritage’.

There are also calls for graves to remain undisturbed and for site to be treated as consecrated ground. Issues were also raised about the unauthorised demolition of some parts of the site previously.

However Historic England, the public body charged with monitoring England’s historic environment, praised the applicant’s ‘comprehensive understanding of the site, including the extent of burials’

A council report said: “They acknowledge that whilst the proposals would result in harm, the consolidation and repair of the remaining structure, retention of salvaged materials, and restoration of the graveyard and railings would deliver heritage benefits. It is regretted that the chapel is not proposed to be rebuilt.”