A Brief History of Frodsham
Bourne Chapel
Bourne Chapel in 2008
The Bourne Primitive Methodist Chapel, built on Frodsham's Main Street, was officially opened on Thursday 11th July 1878. It cost £700 to build. The schoolhouse to the rear predates the chapel and was built between 1874 and 1876. The chapel is named after Hugh Bourne (1772-1852) one of the founders of the Primitive Methodist Connexion. The final service was held in Easter 1987.
The building was converted to offices and used by several companies. A number of original features were lost and new floors introduced, breaking up the building's impressive volume.
Two previous planning applications had been made to convert the premises from office use into a nursery and then apartments. Both applications were refused. The nursery could not supply the required parking provision and the residential application proposed the removal of the first bay of the existing building, and therefore its historic facade, to enable parking at the front directly off the street. With restricted parking availability the office stood vacant for over 18 months and ultimately could have been lost from Frodsham's historic Main Street.
Ollier Smurthwaite Architects of Altrincham identified the potential to introduce a parking facility underneath the existing chapel with only minor alterations to its historic frontage. They recently obtained planning consent for the conversion to four dwellings. Despite residential use still contravening local policy, the quality of the solution to sensitively revitalise the building was recognised. Ollier Smurthwaite Architects' solution removes sections of the existing floor revealing for the first time in 20 years the triple height space of the original Chapel. Parking is provided beneath the existing Chapel. This has been made possible by raising the existing ground floor half a metre. This provided enough room to allow level access to the garage beneath the residential accommodation from the road. In July 2008, work was due to start on site shortly that should ensure the building's future for years to come.
Illustration of the proposed development of Bourne Chapel.
Another illustration of the proposed development of Bourne Chapel.
Thanks to Matthew Ollier of Ollier Smurthwaite Architects Ltd for providing most of the information and the illustrations for this page.
