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New Lease of Life For Historic Nantwich Building
A CENTURY old building in Nantwich town centre is enjoying a new lease of life following an extensive renovation contract.
The former Methodist church school rooms in Hospital Street, which date back to 1908, are now home to Nantwich Methodist Church under refurbishment work carried out by contractor J & S Seddon Building.
Nantwich Methodist Church moved to the old school rooms from its old base on the opposite side of the road, which has been sold off for residential development.
A 200-year tradition of worship in the old church came to an end at the beginning of this year when Minister the Rev. Bryan Tolhurst led a transition service which began in the old building and finished in the newly refurbished premises.
Now the old schoolrooms are in use throughout the week as a community base for groups of all sorts including a wildlife group, choral society, dance classes, women’s fellowship, Brownies, Guides and yoga.
The new church base is being licensed for weddings with the first ceremony due to take place there in July. And, with seating for up to 180 in the main church building, there is ample space to accommodate the regular 100-strong congregation at Sunday services.
J & S Seddon Building completely remodelled the old schoolrooms in a 39-week contract, which included extensive underpinning work, the demolition of interior walls to allow for widening of the main corridor running from the front entrance through to the rear, new windows and doors inside and out, new flooring and a feature staircase.
The works also included the construction of a new slate roof, new kitchen and toilets facilities, and new electrics, heating and plumbing.
Reverend Tolhurst said: “It is a far cry from the old schoolrooms as the light now floods in and it is a very warm and welcoming place with a bright, modern feel to it.
“As well as the main hall we have three good meetings rooms including a coffee lounge and a permanent chapel for communion and prayer meetings.
“Rather than having fixed pews, we have moveable seating which makes the main hall very flexible and it is already in use most days throughout the week not least for our very popular Drop and Shop Sessions where parents can leave their youngsters in our care while they go into town on Saturday mornings.”
Church trustee Arthur Abbott said: “The new-look building is attracting a lot of attention from passers by. It’s good to be welcoming new people into the church.”
Peter Wrench, contracts manager at J & S Seddon Building, said: “The contract proved a challenging one with the building needing a lot of underpinning before we could start work.
“The old building was completely gutted to provide what is, essentially, a new building in its original shell. We are glad to see church members so delighted with the result and pleased that the building is being so well used by the local community.”
Release Date: March 09
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