Since coming to the open market the managing trustees have issued a “closure of burial ground notice” which means they are not taking any further burials on the site. The burial ground (marked in red on the plan below) will be sold with the Methodist church but, until the property is formally sold, the burial site will remain open for friends and family to visit if they wish.
Obviously, any change of use would be subject to all the usual consents but one thing it seems all are agreed upon is that leaving it to decay further and fall into a state of disrepair is something everyone wishes to avoid. There are enough buildings locally which are vacant and in a very poor state of repair without adding another to the collection (see The system doesnt work).
Rye Methodist church is a huge building and an expensive site to develop or maintain but Rye is not the only town where a redundant former church is at the centre of deliberations and debate. A vacant former community church in Kent, which had been empty since services stopped there in 2020, has also been the subject of much discussion and is soon to be repurposed. This building and its history have many similarities to the Methodist Church.
The 150-year-old former community church in Deal dates back to 1881 and like Rye’s Methodist church it is a large, vacant building in a prominent position, the congregation have already moved to an alternative venue, it is not Grade 2 listed but the landmark building falls within a conservation area being in the Middle Street conservation area of Deal and is classed as a non-designated heritage asset.
A planning application, submitted to Dover District Council for conversion to a single 8- bedroomed dwelling (as well as converting the adjoining former Sunday school into residential dwellings) was approved in 2021, however the applicants decided that its ambitions to turn it into a single home were “no longer economically viable” and documents submitted to Dover District Council said the changing housing market and rising building costs mean there is a “reduced demand for such large houses”.
They further stated: “It is noted that the current building is derelict, and the previous congregation had already relocated to a new purpose-built facility and no longer required the use of this application building. Whilst the building could be rented to local groups for community activities, it is acknowledged there are several other facilities available for such uses in the area.
“The proposed changes to the property are largely internal and considered to be minor and would not be widely visible within the conservation area.”
A subsequent revised planning application was approved in October by Dover District Council and work will begin to convert the property into residential dwellings by splitting the building into two, 4-bedroomed homes across three floors. According to the application, each dwelling will have a private courtyard garden, and the bedrooms with en-suite facilities will be on the first and second floors. Each property will have covered cycle and bin stores.
Raycasa investments, who submitted the application, have shown they want to retain as many historic features as possible, including all the original doors, stained glass windows, stairs, ornate roof trusses and the main entrance hall.
Speaking on the amended scheme’s approval, Ms Ray, director of Ashford-based Raycasa Investments Ltd, said: “I’ve taken on the church and Sunday school because I have a passion for bringing old buildings back to life and turning them into family homes.”
Ultimately the planning department at Rother District Council will decide on the future use of Rye Methodist church. It’s a prominent building in a favoured location but realistically, can it be secured for community use or is the only viable solution to convert the building into something else?
Image Credits: Nick Forman , James Stewart , Google .
A potential location for the soon to be homeless Rye Creative Centre artist community perhaps?
Great idea. Working studios and performance space?
The burial site marked in red on the rather unhelpful plan appears to be 1 metre by 1.9 metres, or about 6ft by 3 ft in old money. I don’t wish to be insensitive but unless it involves stacking in a deep shaft doesn’t that suggest rather limited scope for taking future burials anyway. Or am I missing something?