Plans submitted for repairs to Grade II-listed Bishopwearmouth Cemetery chapel in Sunderland

Sunderland City Council has submitted an application to its own planning department 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 has submitted an application for listed building consent seeking permission to carry out repairs at the listed chapel.

A design and access statement submitted with the planning application states the building is in a “poor condition” and lists various issues.

This includes the “spirelet leaning and at risk of collapse”, with “temporary scaffold” in place to “reduce the risk of collapse into the building”.

Other issues include 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.

Planning documents add the building is “derelict inside” and “there is no original decoration left”.

Proposed works include 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 will also be replaced, along with repair and rebuilding works and a “new underground surface water drainage system”.

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

The design and access statement notes: “The building will then be safe, watertight and in the process of drying out.

“It will then be ready for further repairs and development under a less onerous timescale.”

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

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

A heritage statement also submitted to council officials notes 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 adds: “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.”

A decision on the planning application for repairs will be made once a period of council consultation has concluded.

Sunderland City Council’s planning portal website lists a decision deadline of January 9, 2025.

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