St Anne’s Church community hub consultation sessions
St Anne’s Church – eyesore or opportunity?
Many of you have let us know that the exterior of our church needs some TLC. Work on repairs to the exterior stonework will be starting in September 2024, together with planning for a new Community Hub inside. But we thought we should explain the background to this project and also how you can shape its future direction
The building
If you pass through Bewdley you can’t really miss St Anne’s church – it’s the great big soot-stained building at the top of Load St. Since its construction nearly 300 years ago it has accumulated layers of grime. It is also suffering from damaged stonework which is allowing rainwater to penetrate the walls. It is listed as a Grade 2* building by Historic England, which means repairs need to be done to a high standard.
The first steps are getting the stonework, safe, watertight and renovated. The good news is that plans for this work are well-advanced and work on renovating the sections of wall behind the War Memorial and by the church entrance starts in September this year. No road closures will be needed for these sections.
Use for the whole community
Apart from making the building safe and more attractive why are we spending money on it? As well as being a sacred space, we believe St Anne’s has a lot more to offer the whole community: it is the biggest single indoor space in the town, has a good acoustic for music and is in a prominent central location. But it has its challenges: the pews are hard and fixed, the heating needs to be improved, and toilet and hospitality facilities need to be upgraded. The building presents a real opportunity for the town for all sorts of activities. So we want to ask you what the building could be used for and then develop a scheme…
What YOU can do to shape the future
To help us to the next stage we have engaged Communion Architects of Hereford to draw up that scheme. We want to get together as many local people as possible to listen to your ideas at one of our public consultations. The first sessions will be held in:
St Anne’s church on Tuesday 9th July at 3.00pm or 7.30pm.
Everyone is welcome to attend either session. Do please come and join us. Further public consultation sessions on proposed changes will follow later in the year.
