Bid to save dangerously dilapidated Sunderland church breaking apart and slowly collapsing

Sunderland City Council’s Planning and Highways Committee will discuss an application for the Bishopwearmouth Cemetery chapel.

The Anglican 1856 South Chapel has been dangerously dilapidated for years, with scaffolding previously erected to protect the tower and spirelet and the building being fenced off as part of an inspection.

Sunderland City Council, in a public statement in February, 2023, said it intended to carry out “essential external repair and restoration work” and was looking to procure a “specialist consultant” to help deliver the project.

Almost two years later, the council submitted an application to its own planning department for listed building consent seeking permission to carry out repairs at the listed chapel.

A design and access statement submitted with the application said the building was in a “poor condition” and listed various issues, including the “spirelet leaning and at risk of collapse”, with “temporary scaffold” in place to “reduce the risk of collapse into the building”.

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Other issues included parts of the building “breaking apart”, the chapel roof being “in the process of slowly collapsing into the nave”, missing slates in many places and “choked gutters”, as well as “decaying timber” and water damage.

Proposed works at the site included repairs to the “spirelet and belfry masonry”, all roofs being “recovered in new Westmoreland slate replicating the present slate patterning” and a “new roof superstructure” benefiting the majority of the building.

All wallplates, gutters and downpipes and flashings were also earmarked for replacement, along with repair and rebuilding works and a “new underground surface water drainage system”.

Inside the building, all walls were proposed to have remaining plaster removed with windows also left open to “ventilate and dry out the building” and ceilings being kept in place to “assist drying out”.

The design and access statement added the building would “then be safe, watertight and in the process of drying out” and would be “ready for further repairs and development.”

A decision on the plans is expected to be made on January 6, 2025, at a meeting of the Planning and Highways Committee at City Hall.

Council planning officers, in a report published ahead of the decision-making meeting, have recommended the plans for approval.

The council report said the chapel is an “impressive example of its type, originally built in 1856 to the designs of notable Sunderland Architect Thomas Moore as part of the wider municipal cemetery complex”.

Council planners, in the committee report, said the proposed repair works represented a “well-informed approach based on a thorough condition survey and an understanding of the significance of the building” and were “consistent with good practice for listed buildings”.

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It was noted that the proposals would also “rescue and consolidate, through well-informed repair and conservation works, a listed building at risk in a manner that will sustain the heritage significance of the building.”

According to a design and access statement submitted earlier this year, the chapel historically “formed one of a pair that acted as mortuaries for non-conformist and Anglican denominations within the municipal cemetery”.

However, the chapel’s northern twin, known as the Central Chapel, was demolished after a fire in the late-1990s.

A heritage statement submitted to council officials noted that proposed works to the south chapel include “maintenance, repair and reinstatement”, with the “principal affected item” being the building’s roof covering.

The heritage statement added: “The building is part of the estate of Sunderland City Council who recognise its dilapidation and wish to carry out holding repairs whilst the future use of the building is developed.”

The final decision on repair proposals for the site rests with councillors on the Planning and Highways Committee, who will next meet on Monday, January 6, 2025.

The meeting is scheduled to start at 5.30pm at City Hall and will be open to the public.

For more information on the planning application or to track its progress, visit Sunderland City Council’s planning portal website and search reference: 24/02306/LB3