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Chapels of Rest, seven year lease update
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After several years of investigation, survey and negotiation, Stroud Preservation Trust will sign a seven year lease on the Chapels of Rest on Tuesday 4 February 2025. At the same time we will sign an agreement which will see Stroud District Council give the Trust a £75,000 grant towards the cost of essential repairs.
Before the lease could be finalised the Trust produced a comprehensive Schedule of Condition, as a baseline against which repairs and improvements can be assessed. After 4 February, the first urgent task will be to produce a work programme for the first year. A key part of that programme will be roof repairs. Chapels of Rest Grand Celebration
Sunday 16th February 2025
2:00pm at The Chapels of Rest, Old Cemetery, Bisley Road, Stroud But first there is going to be a grand celebration. Everyone is welcome! Stroud Red Band will play, Ragged and Old Morris will dance, and a specially created choir will sing. We hope lots of people will come and mark the beginning of yet another wonderful community project for Stroud. Volunteers needed
The big repairs will, of course, be undertaken by competent professionals. But the project also needs help from local people. If you have a few hours to spare, and would like to volunteer, on anything from weeding to fundraising to decorating, please contact Stroud Preservation Trust on [email protected]
Bisley Road Chapels of Rest updateStroud Preservation Trust and Stroud District Council are close to agreeing final wording on a seven year lease for the Chapels of Rest.
The District Council's Strategy and Resources Committee agreed that SPT could take on repair and renewal of the Chapels of Rest with a £75,000 grant at their meeting of April '23. There has been a long wait for the lease agreement and grant agreement to be finalised. This is looking hopeful and SPT will be in possession of the Chapels from early 2025. At last we can start planning repairs, fundraising and more importantly building a working group and supporters for the project. January 5th will see a Wassail celebration - watch this space! The Project for Stroud Preservation TrustSPT will be appointing consultants to check all that we need to know about the Chapels of Rest before we can put forward a plan to the District Council and take on the building. But it is really important to know how the Chapels could be used in a simple way to start with.
Any ideas that you want to do, using the Chapels of Rest? We need to hear from you about your ideas for small, community events or activities that you want to run in the Chapels. For the future of the buildings it is important that they are used. In what way helps us plan the restoration and conversion needs of these lovely buildings. Please contact us through our email - [email protected] - with a phone number and we will get back to you to talk through your ideas. On October 8th, Stroud District Council’s Strategy and Resources Committee agreed that the Chapels of Rest could be asset transferred to Stroud Preservation Trust for £1 There are four conditions:
The financial capital needed to bring these lovely buildings into full use will be more than the eventual value of the buildings. This is known as the conservation deficit. Stroud Preservation Trust’s expertise and charitable status could help raise grants for the work. The aim would be to consult widely with the public, raise funds and within a designated time, return to Stroud District Council with a full plan. If agreed the Chapels of Rest will then transfer to SPT for £1 (known as an asset transfer) and the plan will be put into action. Regular updates will be put onto SPT’s website as to developments for this project. History of the Chapels In 1854, the several burial grounds in Stroud had become insufficient in size and dangerous to health and, with the threat of closure from the Secretary of State, a new cemetery had to be created. An extensive site of approximately six acres was purchased from Mr Joseph Watts for the sum of £756.00. Stroud’s cemetery was a piece of land of 6 acres laid out with shrubs and walks by Mr W Foster, Nurseryman. It was the fashion in those days to make the new cemeteries beautiful places for visiting and with its exceptional site, views and walks and Stroud Cemetery fits the fashion perfectly. The twin chapels, surmounted by a spire and the original entrance lodge were designed, in decorated Gothic, by the local architects, Messrs Baker and Son, 3 Albert Buildings, Stroud, and built to a high standard of stone masonry. The overall cost (excluding the land) was £2,800.00. The North Chapel (nearest the Bisley Road) was for non-conformists and the South Chapel for Church of England congregations. On the 6th September 1856 the Church portion of the new cemetery was consecrated by the Lord Bishop of the Diocese. About forty of the clergy were present and there was a very large concourse of people. The morning was exceedingly fine and favourable. The following day, two paupers from the workhouse were interred there. The cemetery grounds were divided into three areas, Church of England Non-Conformists, and paupers. The pauper’s area was directly opposite the Union Workhouse in Bisley Road. On the 4th September 1856, William Lewis, a pauper from the workhouse, was the first person to be interred. Another resident of the workhouse was Sara Dancey Face, who died aged 100 years and 47 days and was buried in the pauper area in December 1863. She was a poor, but respected member of the Society of Wesleyans in Acre Street and one of her earliest memories was that she had once cleaned the shoes of John Wesley, when he was on one of his visits to his Society in Stroud. The cemetery had to be expanding quickly and in 1885 more land was bought by the Stroud Joint Burial Commottee to extend the land down to Horns Road. In 1913 Bisley Parish bought 91/3500 of the cemetery and Thrupp Parish 464/3500. In 1974 Stroud District Council took over the running of the cemetery and the Chapels of Rest were not used (except as a parks maintenance base by Stroud Town Council) since 1994. There were two lodges, Upper and Lower which have both been sold privately and the cemetery as a whole have been run by Stroud Town Council as a nature reserve for nearly 30 years. The cemetery now belongs to the Town Council. The Chapels of Rest and surrounding tarmac belong to Stroud District Council. With thanks to Stroud Local History Society https://www.stroudlocalhistorysociety.org.uk/research/cemetery |