Loading document...
For the last 5 years, St. Peter's Church has been posting a loss on its annual revenue account and drawing upon its financial reserves, to the point where these reserves are now almost exhausted. Our current annual running costs are around £ 100,000 per annum. Our income is around £ 60,000 from the congregation (regular pledged giving and loose plate collections), plus income from fees for weddings and funerals, occasional donations/bequests and any fundraising activities. Currently, this falls short of the £ 100,000 p.a. required.
As current indications, both locally and nationally, are pointing towards progressively declining congregations, it is felt that future revenues from church members are likely to decrease, rather than increase.
Hence, after discussion by the Parochial Church Council (PCC) it was determined that the only way our church can survive into the future, is to start using the premises not just for the two or three church services that we hold each week, but for regular, community related activities, such as: coffee mornings, lunches, afternoon teas, bring \& buy sales, craft markets, indoor car boot sales, evening talks, film shows, barn/tea dances, etc. All these would allow us to realise some additional income in order to keep the church going.
The report from the Chartered Building Engineer, David Norman, confirms that the pews are of no particular architectural value or significance and are believed to be of relatively recent origin, possibly 1930's.
Therefore, as the fixed pews currently prevent the church from being used for many of the activities detailed above, the main purpose of this application is for Listed Building Consent to approve their removal and replacement with suitable chairs. However, before seeking Listed Building Consent, such a change required prior approval by the Diocesan Advisory Committee (DAC), who at the same time, were asked to approve some other changes.
Hence, following DAC approval, in addition to the removal of the fixed pews, Listed Building Consent is also sought for the replacement of the wall heating pipes with radiators, the repositioning of the font at the front of church and the moving of a cupboard/drawers at the back of the church. Each item is dealt with in more detail below:
Although the Parochial Church Council had concluded that our only chance of long term survival was to start using the church for more community activities, the fixed pews are not conducive to utilising the church for many of the community activities identified. We do hold a coffee morning most Wednesdays after a church service, but the small space at the rear of the church is barely big enough for three or four tables to be set.
The pews also present an issue in respect of disabled access and fire safety egress, as the aisles down both sides of the church ( 3 feet/900mm wide) and the space between the front row of pews and the choir screen, are barely wide enough for wheelchair access and become completely blocked if a wheelchair is present.
The PCC and clergy therefore took soundings with members of the congregation, the vast majority of whom were of the same opinion that, all things considered, we needed to seek Diocesan Advisory Committee (DAC) approval for the removal of the pews and replacement with removable/stackable seating. We do have around a dozen of these chairs at the back of church, which have proved very popular.
At a PCC Meeting on the 15th February 2015, the PCC voted unanimously in favour of this proposal, which was then put to the Bishop/DAC, who concurred and gave their approval via their Diocesan Advisory Committee Certificate dated 8th June 2015.
Prior to this, our quinquennial inspection report dated 11th August 2014, had also recommended that following previous repairs to the floor at the front of church, as several spongy areas were now apparent in other areas of the church, the rest of the floor needed to be lifted and the appropriate inspection/repairs be undertaken. In the previous repairs, the sponginess was caused by wet rot/fungal decay to the joists, which were repaired or replaced. The joists rest on low stone/concrete walls set in the ground below, which allows the conduction of damp from the ground to the joists, causing the wet rot/fungal decay. At this time, the floorboards on top of the joists appear to be relatively sound and hopefully, will not require replacement. We can confirm that the floor construction is the same across the length and breadth of the church, i.e. there are floorboards under all the carpeted areas.
Therefore, the hope and intention at this time, is that following a full inspection, the existing floor will be repaired and retained in its current form, i.e. floorboards over joists sitting on the underfloor stone walls.
However, in order to get to the joists for inspection/repair, the pews need to be removed, as the floorboards run longitudinally from the front to the back of church, with the pews sitting across them. Due to the interlocking, glued mortice joints in the middle of each row, the pews cannot be easily removed. We are advised that even laborious and costly removal (which we cannot afford) in trying to carefully cut and prise apart the joints, would still result in some damage to the panels and is not a viable option. Replacement pitch pine timber is these days, expensive and difficult to source and any damaged timber would possibly need stripping (off-island) and repainting, at considerable additional expense.
Fortunately, as we are looking to replace the pews anyway, we did have a contractor offering to break out and remove the pews for free, or a nominal cost, in return for keeping the timber, which could be sold/recycled.
We are therefore seeking Listed Building Consent to remove the fixed pews in the nave of the church and replace these with chairs. We have already acquired around a dozen of these chairs - some with, some without arms and these can be seen in the proposed layout (alternate arms/no arms) in Photograph 1.
Note: The movable pews located in the choir stalls will be retained.
Currently, the heating in church is provided by an old oil boiler, producing hot water which provides heating via 4" diameter pipes running horizontally, down the side walls of the church, together with floor pipes running down the centre partitions of the pews and with four radiators at the back of church. There are two small single radiators either side of the rear entrance door and two larger radiators, one on the rear wall (Photograph 2) and one in front of the rear pews/cupboard unit on the north side of church (Photograph 3).
With the removal of the pews, the floor pipes running either side of the centre pew partitions (Photograph 4) and along the front row of the pews, will also have to be removed. We are advised that these can be removed and capped-off, whilst maintaining a hot water supply to the pipes running down the sides of the church and the radiators at the back of church.
Initially, these would be kept as is, until the inspection and repairs to the floor are completed. Providing the floor can be repaired cost effectively, the intention then would be to remove the wall pipes and possibly the two large radiators and replace them with new, energy efficient radiators, e.g. a flat panel type radiator as shown in Photograph 5.
Although these radiators are of a different type to the vertical column radiators at the rear of church, the large radiator in front of the rear pews/cupboard will be removed leaving just the one large vertical radiator on the rear wall. As these vertical column radiators are not as energy efficient as flat panel radiators, are twice as expensive size for size and are extremely difficult and labour intensive to overpaint, it would make sense to remove this radiator and if necessary, replace this with a similar type as those to be fitted to the side walls. Any comments from the conservation officer which radiator type(s) may or may not be acceptable, would be appreciated.
Although the pipes and the plaster below the dado rails along the sides and rear of the church are currently painted pink, the non-breathable paint has caused the original white, lime washed plaster to become damp and it is now blistered and crumbling (Photograph 6). This will need to be removed and replaced and may be returned to its original white colour, which would mean the replacement, white flat panel radiators would not have to be overpainted.
However, if the Diocesan Advisory Committee decided the walls should remain pink, with painted radiators, flat panel radiators would be far easier to over paint than the current vertical column type. It is estimated that we would probably require seven or eight, 1.8 metre radiators down each side of the church to provide the necessary heating.
It may be prudent to replace the old oil boiler with a new oil boiler at the same time as replacing the heating pipes with radiators. If so, it would be hoped to utilise the existing flue (Photograph 9), which exits through the main church roof behind the spire, or for a new flue to be sited in the same location. We appreciate that anything other than this would require additional consent.
We therefore seek Listed Building Consent to replace the existing heating pipes with new flat panel radiators and to remove the two large vertical column radiators.
Although the removal of the pews will allow us to create more general space at the front of church, the DAC have approved a request for the font to be repositioned. The current position of the font, immediately in front of the choir stall screen in the south east corner, is currently found to be awkward, as there is no room for Minister to stand behind the font, with parents and god-parents to either side. Instead, everyone tends to stand to one side of the font and the Minister frequently has their back to some of the participants. Moving the font one metre further away from the choir stall screen and one to two metres towards the centre of church will allow the Minister to stand behind the font and avoid having their back turned to some participants. It will also allow for the christenings to be more centrally positioned and visible to guests on both sides of the church, rather than being crowded into one corner.
Hence, in line with the DAC approval, we request Listed Building Consent to move the Font one metre west and between one and two metres north from its current position - as depicted by the blue cushions on the floor in Photograph 7.
Once the pews are removed, we also have DAC approval, if required, to release the drawers/cupboard situated around the gallery pillar on the north side of the church and move this adjacent to the drawers/cupboard around the pillar on the south side of the church. Hence, if required, we seek Listed Building Consent to effect this change. Photograph 8 refers.
Although we are struggling with our annual revenue accounts, we do have a bequest of £ 100,000, which has been bequeathed specifically for use towards the upkeep of the fabric/ improvement of the church, which it is estimated will cover the cost of purchasing the replacement chairs, carrying out the floor repairs and replacing the heating.
In addition to the above, St.Peter's also urgently requires maintenance/repairs to:
All 14 stained glass windows; re-pointing of the spire from below the recently repaired top section, to the ground; re-pointing of the remainder of the exterior of the whole church from the gutters down to the ground; removal and replacement of crumbling plaster; removal of interior non-breathable paint and re-painting with a breathable interior paint.
In total, we have around £ 250,000 of outstanding repairs to carry out and only £ 100,000 of available funds, together with a falling income, which currently doesn't even cover the annual running costs, let alone, allowing for any surplus to cover these major maintenance requirements. Therefore, it is essential that we find ways to allow a greater utilisation of the church in order to generate alternative income streams. The proposed removal of the pews and other changes detailed above will, hopefully, allow the church to hold more community related events, realising additional revenue, in order to secure its place into the future.
We are aware that both St. Ninians (Douglas) and Kirk Michael churches have recently been allowed to replace their pews with chairs for similar reasons to ours, so we remain hopeful that our request will be granted.
In support of this application, please find enclosed: Appendix 1 - Photographs No's 1 - 9, as detailed above. Appendix 2 - Diocesan Advisory Committee Certificate for the works detailed above. Appendix 3 - Report from the Chartered Building Engineer, David Norman, in support of our application for the replacement of pews and repositioning of the font.
Appendix 4 - Quinquennial Inspection Report dated 11th August 2014. Appendix 5 - Location Plan Appendix 6 - Site Plans, current and proposed.
Copyright in submitted documents remains with their authors. Request removal
View as Markdown