News - Historic landmark given new lease of life (Sheffield)

Plans to preserve an important and unique part of Sheffield’s Victorian history have been given the green light after a 15-year battle with conservation authorities.


The Anglican Chapel in Sheffield’s General Cemetery is a Grade 2 listed building and known for its distinct gothic style and Victorian spire. Despite its position as an integral part of local history, the chapel has been allowed to fall into disrepair and has stood empty for a number of years.

Efforts to bring the chapel back into use have been on-going since 1997, but the latest proposal to convert the historic building into two domestic flats has finally been given the go ahead by Sheffield City Council.

Valerie Bayliss from the Sheffield Victorian Society said she was pleased to see an iconic monument being restored. She said: “The General Cemetery chapel has been empty for many years and has been subject to extensive vandalism. There have been several attempts to find a new use for it, and we are pleased that at last the essential repairs will be carried out and the building returned to use.”

The chapel, built in 1850, was designed by Sheffield architect William Flockton in a Victorian gothic style whilst other buildings in the cemetery are considered to be of a Classical or Egyptian style. The building is unique for its distinctive windows and entrance as well as the spire which was purposefully built too big so as to clearly visible.

Sheffield General Cemetery opened in 1836 and is one of the oldest public cemeteries in Britain. A number of figures from Sheffield’s industrialist past are buried there including steel manufacturer Mark First and the 19th century chartist Samuel Holberry, known for his role in the failed Sheffield Rising of 1840.

Two previous schemes to renovate the Anglican Chapel were turned down by planning officials after meeting strong local opposition. The latest proposal however is supported English Heritage and the Sheffield General Cemetery Trust who have looked after the cemetery since it closed to public burial in 1979.

The chapel will be converted into two flats with parking space for four cars. A council spokesman said that every effort would be made to preserve the building’s historical features.

Councillor Andrew Sangar said it was important to bring the chapel back into use but expressed concerns that the proposed plans did not go far enough.

He said: “In the past we have turned down numerous schemes to bring this building back into use and it needs to be done otherwise it will fall down. It is currently in a dreadful state of disrepair.

“In principal I support the idea to bring back old churches and old chapels into use. But I think we have missed an opportunity here.

“Given the history there and the little of it we have left to us today. This scheme does not go far enough to preserve an important and unique part of Sheffield’s history.”

From: http://postcodegazette.com/news/9002759371/historic-landmark-given-new-lease-of-life-AT-sheffield-sheffield-general-cemetery/

News - A fine plan in General (Sheffield)

IT is one of Sheffield’s most magnificent architectural gems, a stunning grade II* listed 19th Century chapel which, when opened in 1836, was considered one of the grandest buildings in the city.

“We can’t go inside,” says Alex Quant today, peering through a small entrance in the bricked-up door. “There’s so much bird poo in there the ammonia makes the air poisonous.”

Ah.

You join us, reader, outside Sheffield General Cemetery’s stunning Non-Conformist Chapel.

For some 60 years this incredible building – opulently modelled on a mix of ancient Greek and Egyptian architecture – has stood empty and unused; left to the birds and to the vandals.

But things, it seems, are changing.

An ambitious £400,000 restoration plan is set to once more transform this hidden jewel into a visitor attraction and central feature of the Sharrow cemetery, itself a grade II listed landscape and no longer a working graveyard.

The massive two-stage revamp – to be funded through heritage grants – will see the chapel made safe, cleaned up and eventually reopened as a combined education complex, community centre and function suite for private parties such as wedding blessings.

“When you think the chapel has been left untouched since the Fifties, it’s such a shame,” says Catie Evans, of the South Yorkshire Building Preservation Trust, which has been commissioned by the Sheffield General Cemetery Trust to work on the plans. “The potential for it is huge.”

Indeed, it was that potential which inspired the SGCT, the charity which manages the cemetery on behalf of Sheffield City Council, to bring the chapel back into use. “This is key to our plans,” says Alex, office manager of the trust. “We are not doing this just to restore an old building, although that in itself is worthwhile. Rather, we believe there is a genuine and much-needed end use.

“We are getting increasing numbers of school groups coming to the cemetery for the day to study, and they have nowhere to go. What this restoration would do is give them an on-site classroom and meeting point and shelter if the weather turns.

“It would also be available to the community to use for neighbourhood meetings; and it would allow the cemetery to host income-generating events so we could hire it out for corporate parties or wedding blessings. It’s an unusual building in a magnificent setting, and we’re sure that would attract people.”

Those alterations, then, will take place over two phases.

The first £200,000 stage will see the building secured, reopened and access improved while it remains internally as just a single large room.

A second phase, pencilled in to take place 18 months later, would potentially see sympathetic alterations made inside, including the installation of a kitchen and mezzanine floor with office space.

“The plans are ready to go,” says Catie. “We’ve applied for funding from two grant bodies and if and when that comes through we can start working more or less straight away.”

In an ideal world, she adds, that process will have started by the end of 2012.

And if it sounds ambitious, don’t worry, the SGCT have got form.

Eight years ago the group of two staff and more than 50 volunteers oversaw the restoration of the site’s Egyptian gate and office into a snug administration space, which itself has helped improve the running of the cemetery.

“We’re confident we can deliver this too,” says Alex. “And we’re confident it would be another step in improving the cemetery.”

The General Cemetary -a few general facts

Sheffield General Cemetery was opened in 1836 and at the time was one of the largest commercial cemeteries in the UK.

It was designed by Sheffield architect Samuel Worth in the style of a botanical garden.

Some 87,000 bodies were interred there before the last, Margaret Norah Wells, was buried on December 21, 1978.

Rumours of body snatching dominated its early history. Some believed an underground tunnel ran from the heart of the cemetery to a local surgeon’s house.

Confectioner George Bassett, steel manufacturer Mark Firth and revolutionary Samuel Holberry are among those buried there.

It is listed in the English Heritage Register of Historical Parks and Gardens and is home to 10 historic monuments including the Nonconformist Chapel.

From: http://www.thestar.co.uk/community/the-diary/a_fine_plan_in_general_1_4264871