DerelictWeek - Birch Church

I had a big cry for a while this morning - the immense strain of everything I’ve been through over the past ten years just spilled over and I had to let it out. Thankfully my level-headed and capable niece was at the end of the phone, and I took her advice to duck out for the weekend and switch off from the overload of organising and planning that’s constantly whirling around in my head.

I waited until the rain had cleared and the England v Switzerland football was on, then headed over to Sainsbury’s for the groceries. It was practically deserted in there, and the roads were quiet. As it had turned into a nice afternoon, I took a detour onto the country lanes. I’ve been meaning to blip the Church of St Peter & St Paul in the village of Birch for ages, so I drove into the entrance road and parked up. The church has been closed for 34 years, and it is heavily fenced off for safety reasons. According to the Victorian Society, “the interior of this Grade II church, built by the architect S.S.Teulon in 1850, exudes great atmosphere. But the wood floor is rotten. The stonework is crumbling inside and out”. The church has deteriorated enormously since I last looked around the outside of it with Mum about seven or eight years ago and was able to peep in through a window. Sadly it is now structurally unsound, too far gone to viably restore, and is awaiting demolition. It is hoped that with careful dismantling much of the materials, fixtures and fittings can be reused. Historic Buildings and Places are seeking the salvage of the reredos by S.S.Teulon and the beautiful East Window by Mary Lowndes. I’m afraid this is what can happen to church buildings when local people are no longer involved in using and caring for them. Even the Victorian churches need a vast amount of maintenance, often carried out by volunteers from among their own congregations. As church attendance dwindles year on year, those locals who object to their beloved church building being lost would do well to think about their own part in its closure and eventual demise.

Thank you to Marlieske for hosting the DerelictWeek challenge.