Past Projects
St John’s Hanley
St. John's Church, Hanley
Hanley was the first project done by the partnership of Simon Linford, Derek Latham and Mike Copestake under Church Converts. St John’s was one of the Church Commissioners’ biggest problem cases. It had closed to worship in 1985, and been subject to vandalism. A number of factors were conspiring against reuse – a relatively low value area, a well-meaning Friends group with fanciful plans, and a repair cost report commissioned from a specialist surveyor that put the cost at £1.3m, and amount higher than the building could ever be worth. The building was Grade II* listed not because of its architectural merit or interior (which had been destroyed) but because it was one of the first churches to use cast iron in its construction in 1778.
The Church Converts approach was to say “what is the least you actually have to do to get this building back into economic use?” It wasn’t going to be £1.3m – more like £500,000, which Church Converts was able to borrow from Handelsbanken on the back of a valuation for a restaurant scheme. Repairs were undertaken by contractor Linford-Bridgeman, supervised by Derek Latham. The church was taken off the Heritage at Risk register.
The restaurant scheme never came to fruition. The building operated as an antiques centre and tea room for a number of years before the building was sold to a local group for community use. The celebrated ring of 10 bells were removed and form the basis of a new ringing peal at St Mary’s church in Stafford.
From Ruin to Revival
Explore our galleries capturing St. John’s from dereliction to a new revivial.
Before Restoration
After Restoration
