Church Micro 1932...Birch Green Traditional Cache

St Peter's Church, is opposite the school in Birch. Designed by a well known Victorian church architect, Samuel Sanders Teulon, it was built in 1850 by Charles Gray Round, a local landowner. The spire is a prominent local landmark but was constructed of a relatively porous French stone which is now seriously decayed. The rest of the structure is also in a very bad state. Various efforts, including a flower festival, were made in 1985 to raise funds for the church's restoration. However it became clear the fabric of the building was in such poor condition that the cost of restoration was well beyond the resources of the local community. For safety reasons, such as falling masonry, the church was closed for worship in about 1987.

Around the time of the millennium, Birch Spire Arts Trust was set up with the aim of securing a sustainable future for the church by turning it into an arts centre. It was recognised the only likely alternative would be demolition of the building. Viability of the project depended on a substantial grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund but the Trust's application was turned down.

In May 2006 a developer put forward proposals for converting the church into six residences. The proposed scheme involved two other 'enabling' residential developments in the village to provide the additional funding necessary to meet the cost of restoration work on the church. The consensus view among local residents was that they would prefer to see the church demolished rather than have the two other residential developments which the developer claimed were essential to the viability of its proposals.

As at 2009 the developer's option to purchase the building has lapsed and the future of St Peter's remains uncertain.

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If anybody would like to expand to this series please do, I would just ask that you could let Sadexploration know first so he can keep track of the Church numbers and names to avoid duplication

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First to Find is: Your name could appear here if your first to find!

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