Heritage News 19 - South Derbyshire District Council

WEST STREET METHODIST CHURCH
RETURNS TO CHARACTER
The Victorian Methodist
Church on West Street,
Swadlincote, has been open
for the Civic Trust’s Heritage
Open Days for several years
now and many local people
have become aware of its
beauty and historical
significance. Sadly it has
fallen into a state of disrepair,
although there is still a small
Sunday congregation and the
schoolroom is in great
demand for community use.
The property also includes
the impressive row of shops
alongside, with their striking
terracotta façade.
Interested local people have
recently been working hard
with the congregation to find
a way of redeveloping the
buildings for community use,
including performance space
for local choirs etc. This has
led to the formation of the
West Street Partnership. Last
year the Partnership was
successful in attracting a
package of funding to
renovate the outside of the
buildings, which is Phase I of
the project.
New upper windows have
been fitted in the church to
match the original Victorian
windows, removed about a
century ago. With their
slender, curved glazing bars,
they have greatly enhanced
the appearance of the
building. Metal grilles are
being made to fit all the
windows on the Market Street
elevation at the back. Ground
floor windows have been
repaired where necessary,
pending the major scheme
ahead. The window arches
and sills will eventually be
painted and new lead
flashings have been installed
on the West Street elevation.
The roof of the shops at Nos.
10 - 14 West Street has been
retiled and at the time of
writing scaffolding has been
erected in West Street to
facilitate repair and
refurbishment of the external
façade. So pleased are we
with the transformation that
we have applied for a
Derbyshire County Council
Greenwatch award. This
project certainly fits the
criteria of conserving,
restoring and enhancing the
character of the townscape.
The main funding came from
Derby and Derbyshire
Economic Partnership, South
Derbyshire District Council’s
“Heritage Economic
Regeneration Scheme” run
jointly with English Heritage,
the District Council’s
“Community Partnership
Scheme” and the Methodist
Church. We received great
help and support from both
our architect, Annie
Duquemin of the Allan Joyce
Partnership, and South
Derbyshire Conservation
Officer Marilyn Hallard. A
specialist building firm,
Bartrams, was given the
contract to carry out the work
to the value of £119,330
including VAT.
Rev. Angela Singleton, April
2005
REPTON VILLAGE HISTORY
GROUP GOES SOLO
On 3 rd March, the Repton
Village History Group formally
split with the Repton Village
Society and became an
independent body. A
constitution for the new Group
has been drawn up and the
Group will have its first AGM
in 2006, when officers and a
committee will be elected. In
the meantime, the Group is
being run by a steering
committee.
The Annual subscription rates
for membership of the Group
are £3.00 for single membership
and £6.00 for Family
membership. The membership
year commences on 1 st April
and runs to 31 st March the
following year. The support of
any interested readers would be
most welcome. The
membership secretary is David
Guest who can be contacted at
Tudor Lodge, High Street,
Repton, Derbyshire DE65 6GD
tel. 01283 703650.
•The front of the Methodist Chapel, with its smart
new windows.
Heritage News - 8
The entry fee to the Group’s
meetings is £1.00 for members
and £2.00 for visitors. This fee,
together with the income from
the raffle, is designed to offset
the cost of room hire, any fees
paid to speakers and any
equipment we might need to
hire for meetings. It also helps
towards the very high cost of
Public Liability Insurance
which we feel is necessary.
Group member Alan Kimber
says: “Our main aim is to create
a social club for those interested
in the history of the area and to
collect, display and save items
of interest. We also aim to
encourage participation through
talks, lectures, projects and
research.
“Forthcoming events include a
talk by Keith Foster of the
Magic Attic, on the Attic’s
painstaking compilation of
thousands of newspaper items
telling of the deaths and injuries
sustained by local members of
the armed forces in both World
Wars. It is a comprehensive
record and a most useful tool for
local people who are tracing
their family history.
“On June 18 th and 19 th , Repton
will be staging its popular Open
Gardens weekend. The History
Group will be contributing to
the activities with a
photographic display in St
Wystan’s Church and our
publications will also be on sale
there. Make a note in your
Diary and come along to visit
us!”
For further information, Alan
can be contacted on 01283
704042 or log on to the
websiteat
reptonhistory@aol.com