A SADDLEWORTH chapel that has been at the centre of protracted plans to convert it into residential accommodation is back on the market.
Delph Independent, at the corner of Delph Lane and Hill End Road, is available for a guide price of £425,000 in an auction.
That throws into doubt whether Dr Paula Rothermel’s dream of seeing the building brought back into life will happen.
However, planning permission still exists to turn it into either nine small apartments or seven and a three-bedroomed townhouse, as well as build two four-bedroomed properties in its grounds.
Billed by auctioneers Pugh as ‘an ideal purchase for a local builder or developer seeking their next project,’ Delph Independent Chapel has been at the centre of long-running planning issues.
Switzerland-based Dr Rothermel, who used to live in the village, faced local opposition and the loss of funding as she hoped to revive the landmark.
The chapel, last used for worship in the late 1980s, has become a target for vandals, boarded up windows now ripped open, exposing the interior to the weather.
Its burial ground, which includes three Commonwealth War Graves, is littered with memorial stones – some more than 250-years-old – others cracked and stacked on top of each other.
A forlorn monument remembers three members of the Shaw family from the now demolished Shaw Hall at Grasscroft including four-year-old Platt Shaw, who died in 1849, and his sister Hannah, aged one.
Despite planning permission for seven apartments – granted in 2017 – appearing to have lapsed, the property is being marketed as having it in place, although specifications only refer to five flats.
Documents state: “A superb development opportunity comprising a former stone chapel benefitting from approved planning permission to convert the existing building into either nine small apartments or seven apartments comprising 6 x 2 bedroom apartments and 1 x 3 bedroom town house arranged over ground, first, second floors and mezzanine.
“Additionally, there is approved permission to construct 2 x 4 bedroom semi-detached houses on the land to the side adjoining the chapel.
“We have been provided with architects plans and reports to demonstrate that under current approved permissions the internal accommodation would comprise of:
“New build – entrance Hall, open plan kitchen/living/dining, utility, WC, bedroom x 4, shower room, bathroom.
“Former chapel – town house – kitchen, sitting room, WC, living room, bedroom x 3, bathroom x 2.
“Flats 1-5 – open plan kitchen/living/dining, bedroom x 2, master en-suite, bathroom.
“Approval was granted in 2018 for the construction of two semi-detached houses on the adjoining land.
“We understand minor work was started on the chapel to ensure the planning permission remains extant whilst digging work was started on the land to allow the same.”
Dr Rothermel has previously told Saddleworth Independent of her hopes for the property, saying: “I have been trying, mainly since 2007, to get the place renovated but it has been an uphill struggle.
“I am trying to make the chapel a nice place to look at and have a village graveyard that is something to be proud of. I have never had any plans to dig up any graves.
“If I’d had support from the community for what I was doing it would have been done completed by now and people would be living in there.
“I am a very community minded person and there is nothing to stop anyone building houses over that graveyard. The one thing that does is I retain it.
“I lived in Delph for 12 years. My husband and I planned to have one of the apartments.
“Not once as anyone said it is a nice thing what you want to do.
“The Chapel will go for demolition if it is sold. That is certain. It is not listed even though I tried.
“I feel morally obliged to pursue the project and if I can’t pursue the project there is no money to do the graveyard. So, I would have to sell it.”
Pugh director Edward Feather said: “Saddleworth is a stunning area that is highly sought after as a place to live with easy rail commutes to both Manchester and Leeds.
“The old chapel is in a fantastic location, a short walk from the village centre and primary school and needless to say we have had significant interest in the site as a development opportunity.
“The saga of the chapel’s redevelopment to residential accommodation has dragged on over decades and it would be great to see this historic building finally take on a new lease of life in the hands of an owner who can ensure it becomes an asset to the village once more.”
Bidding on the chapel begins at 10am on Tuesday, March 21 and ends at 2.06pm on Wednesday, March 22. It can be viewed at https://www.pugh-auctions.com/property/35049
I walk past the site fairly regularly and have done for several years now and during that period the structural deterioration in the building has become increasingly apparent even to a casual passer by and it’s a now also potential death trap for children and an eyesore for everyone, particularly when contrasted the immediately adjacent area of Delph it hits you like a slap in face.
Full marks for good intent though and meaning well, but there has to be something to be said as well for finally biting the bullet and getting it sorted out once and for all ?
Rothermill’s plans to turn the Chapel into 9 apartments and to build two houses on the site, could be construed as a project to generate as much income, rather than think about the consequences for the local area and the amazingly high density of occupation, she is hoping to achieve. In reality 11 dwellings often attract two vehicles per property, additionally with family/friends and other people visiting the accommodation, there isn’t sufficient parking space for the proposed development in the busy area, the roads just cannot accommodate this plan!
The Local Authority Planning Department have been complicit in this, with granting Planning Permission. Bizarrely they allowed the excavation and removal of the ramped access to the Chapel Yard, so that visitors (with mobility issues) would be precluded from accessing the area. Currently funerals require entry to the Chapel Yard, by some narrow and slippery steps with no handrail. Given the way the Council seems preoccupied with Health and safety issues, then how this proposal was passed is totally incredible!
Rothermill could have employed a low key firm of gardeners to strim and tidy the Chapel Yard on a quarterly basis. If she felt ‘morally obliged’ then rather than pontificate, she could demonstrate her commitment through some tangible action on a low cost basis. She talks about being a ‘community minded person’ well there is zero evidence of that assertion, as evidenced by the neglect to the site, instead we get rather sad protestations on her part. There is little empathy for the community she has abandoned and the mess that she has left.
When she talks about trying to turn it into a ‘nice place’, then during her ownership, historic gravestones have been uprooted, and smashed by firms she has employed. The building has further deteriorated, the ‘Bell Tower’ leans at a greater angle than a certain tower in Italy, threatening to smash into the roof. The boards which had been placed over windows have been removed and/or now look appalling. The building attracts youths and is a health and safety hazard in addition to a blot on the landscape.
It is about time the Local Councillors/Legal department/Planning Officers looked a fresh at the whole sorry situation. Perhaps compulsory purchase would be the way forward.
Just so you all know. Two of the larger stained glass windows were removed for restoration. They were restored but reconstruction ran out of money before further work was carried out.The windows were never replaced and have been stored ever since. This would have been in the 1990s. They are still available for reglacing.