Additional Background and Notes
Brief History of St Peter's Church, Birch
Located over the site of a Saxon church, St Peter's was designed by a well-known Victorian church architect, Samuel Sanders Teulon. It was built in 1850 by Charles Gray Round, a local landowner. It is thus not a particularly old church and although Grade II Listed not generally considered to be of outstanding architectural merit (otherwise, no doubt, more strenuous efforts would have been made to save it long before now).
There were major problems with the church's fabric as far back as 1959/60. In his booklet "The Churches - Old and New - of Birch, and Layer Breton" Tom Millatt, a former headmaster of Birch School, wrote about St Peter's saying:
"For over a century the church had withstood fair weather and foul, and in the process stonework had eroded badly, and an architect's inspection in 1959 revealed many faults needing attention. The work of replacing the decayed stonework, of repair and renovation to the rainwater pipes and gutters, and other needful work was put in hand, and then suddenly on the night of January 19th, 1960 the spire was struck by lightning in a freak storm, causing damage to the electric lighting system, and subjecting the whole building to a considerable shock. Detailed examination after the erection of scaffolding showed serious damage to the upper part of the spire, and revealed that the lightning conductor was faulty. The inspection also revealed considerable erosion and crumbling away of much of the stonework, both inside and outside the spire."
By the early 1980s the church was again in need of considerable restoration and various efforts, including a flower festival, were made in 1985 to raise funds for this purpose. However it became clear the fabric of the building was in such poor condition that the cost of restoration was well beyond the resources of the local community. For safety reasons, such as falling masonry, the church was closed for worship in about 1987.
In 1994 the Church Commissioners made preparations for a demolition scheme but this was put on hold when Birch Spire Arts Trust came forward with proposals for saving the building as a millennium project.
Birch Spire Arts Trust was set up with the aim of securing a sustainable future for the church by turning it into an arts centre. It was recognised then that the only likely alternative would be demolition of the building. Viability of the project depended on a substantial grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund but the Trust's application was turned down.
Subsequently the Church Commissioners looked again at preparing a demolition scheme. This was put on hold when Courtland started discussions, three or four years ago, about conversion of the church to residential units.
Restoring St Peter's as a Church
There is no prospect of the building being restored as a church and used again for worship. The cost of restoration would be unjustifiably high and there is ample provision for local places of worship with three other churches within the boundaries of the United Benefice of Layer de la Haye, Layer Breton with Birch and Layer Marney.
How Important is the Building Architecturally?
The Archeology Data Service's website carries the following information:
http://ads.ahds.ac.uk/catalogue/adsdata/cbaresrep/pdf/019/01911001.pdf
BIRCH, GREAT, St Peter (and St Paul)
A large, solid Victorian church erected on the site of the medieval one, which was demolished in 1849. It comprised a nave, chancel, bell-turret and S porch; said to be Norman, and a sketch of 1849 shows round-headed and C14 windows.
The site is of interest for its prominent position, but grave-digging of C19-20 must have destroyed much of the archaeology of the churchyard. The foundations of the C19 church are likely to be massive and have probably destroyed most of the medieval church. Internal excavation is the only hope, although not a great one, for the recovery of information.
Birch is a monument to senseless Victorian ecclesiastical vandalism; the replacement church is of little merit in its own class.
Ownership of the Church
Ownership of the church building is currently vested in the Chelmsford Diocesan Board of Finance. If the church is sold the proceeds will go to the Church Commissioners, not to the local parish or Chelmsford Diocese.
Costings and Profit Margins
Courtland say their costings for the scheme will be provided to Colchester Borough Council who have appointed independent professional valuers to confirm that their proposals are consistent with the criteria laid down by English Heritage for acceptable enabling development.
During the Birch Parish Council meeting on 5th June 2006 Courtland claimed that they were working on a very modest profit margin of 15%. To put it politely that claim was met with considerable scepticism by the assembled company.