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Old chapel in final for cash boost |
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Friday, 11 August 2006 |
A crumbling chapel emblematic of Cornish Methodism will tonight be named as the South West winner of the BBC's popular Restoration Village series.
Presenter Griff Rhys Jones is to announce that Newlyn Trinity Methodist Chapel has beaten two other worthy Westcountry buildings in the programme's second regional heat after last week's televised showcase.
After its triumph over the Rope Walk in West Coker, Somerset, and Welcombe Barton in Welcombe, North Devon, the early 19th-century chapel will now go head-to-head with seven other troubled rural buildings in the grand final next month.
Nearly £2 million is on offer from the Heritage Lottery Fund to help the winners restore properties to their former glory.
Nine years ago, surveyors declared the ceiling of the Grade II listed chapel unsafe, leaving the property standing idle. Soon afterwards, cultural protection agency English Heritage placed the building on its "at risk" list.
The Rev Julyan Drew said: "Trinity Chapel is on the way to a new and viable future telling Newlyn's story of fishing, of quarrying, of artists and copper workers, of the men, women and children who lived in the surrounding streets or sat in its pews.
"We still have a long way to go before restoration is possible so we hope people will continue to support us right through to the final and beyond."
After structural repairs and weatherproofing, it is hoped the chapel will find new life as a cultural centre in the village.
article copyright © WESTERN MORNING NEWS
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