Former chapel building goes on the market
Union Street Chapel
ONE of Market Rasen’s historic buildings has been put on the market.
The Methodist Chapel in the town’s Union Street closed as a place of worship in 1963 and since then its uses have included a tyre service centre and, most recently, a storage unit.
But now, the chapel at 29 Union Street is up for sale, together with the cottage at 27 Union Street and the land in–between the two buildings.
“We have had a number of enquiries since the site went on the market,” said Stephen King, commercial surveyor with TES, who are marketing the chapel, cottage and land from their Louth branch.
“We have cleaned up the site so potential buyers can see what is on offer,” added Mr King.
It is expected the site will be purchased for redevelopment; the centre plot has planning consent for three dwellings.
The chapel was built in 1861 to replace the Weslyan Reform Chapel built in 1852 at the end of a passage off Union Street.
As part of the area’s history, the town’s heritage group is keen the building is preserved.
“It would be a great shame to lose another part of the town’s heritage if it were demolished,” said Hazel Barnard, chairman of Rase Heritage Society.
“The townscape has never recovered from the loss of the Corn Exchange/Town Hall, causing the market place to be unbalanced, so the best option would be to convert it into apartments.”
It has also been suggested the chapel would make a good community space.
“This would require a lot of work, as the interior is in a very bad state, so it would need a lot of grant funding and hard work to correct,” added Mrs Barnard.
“The ongoing upkeep would be high and funding for this sort of thing is very hard to come by.”
Do any of our readers have memories of the Union Street chapel?
Let us know in the usual way – email rasenmail@jpress.co.uk or call us on 01673 844644.
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Weather for Market Rasen
Wednesday 22 May 2013
Today
Cloudy
Temperature: 4 C to 15 C
Wind Speed: 18 mph
Wind direction: North west
Tomorrow
Light showers
Temperature: 6 C to 10 C
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