A Cardiff church which has remained derelict for a number of years is hoping to reopen its doors in the near future after it embarks on an extensive repair programme.
The 133-year-old Grade II listed St Paul’s Church in Grangetown announced plans to build 12 apartments as well as two semi-detached houses on its grounds in 2017 as it faced permanent closure after a survey found that at least £1m worth of repairs were needed on the building. Under the arrangement, Wales and West Housing Association would have paid for the renovation works to the church, which was featured in a 2005 episode of Dr. Who, in exchange for using a large portion of the building for tenants.
“We developed an interesting scheme with Wales and West Housing Association for conversion of the main part of the church to flats for local needs housing and retaining a worship space in the east end. Unfortunately, this scheme proved uneconomic for them so we have been looking at alternative options,” said Alex Glanville from the property department of the Church in Wales.
Read more: The easily-missed Cardiff restaurant quietly building a major reputation
Since the scheme fell through there has been renewed hope that the church may reopen to parishioners in the near future. “We have embarked on a scheme of immediate repairs including reinstatement of the floor, localised roofing, stonework, and window repairs. This work will secure the building whilst we work on future plans. Our hope is that we can reopen the church to serve the community once more but this will be an expensive project to achieve costing around £2 million,” said Alex.
At the moment works have been undertaken on the floor, roof and the windows with the hope that in the medium to long-term future progress can be made to bring the historical church up to standard once again. Despite its closure, St Paul's continues to be a thriving parish being served by two congregations as well as its involvement in a number of important projects across south Cardiff. Its adjacent local hall is also the home to a number of community groups and activities.
To get the latest Cardiff news straight to your inbox subscribe to our daily newsletter here.
