A new lease of life for the Vestry Hall

After a chequered history, the Vestry Hall in North Street faced an uncertain future until bought by Caroline Glithero and her husband Paul Nicholson who have spent the past five years planning and implementing their dream project which has finally come to fruition.

The result is that a building that might have been lost to the town has been transformed into a main residence on two floors accessed by staircases at each end with five bedrooms, four bathrooms, a lounge, dining room, study, gymnasium, kitchen and sun balcony with a self-contained, fully equipped annexe for holiday letting. But despite the major alterations that have been made, the Victorian chapel remains outwardly unchanged while many of the interior features have been retained.

Caroline and Paul were mindful of the chapel’s history and anxious from the start to ensure that it was not forgotten in their plans. “We felt it imperative not to spoil the character of the building, especially the frontage, and although this presented many small challenges, I think we have managed to achieve that objective”, said Caroline. “To all appearances, this is still the Vestry Hall and it is only when you step inside that you realise it is no longer used for services but for modern day to day living.”

The property deal also included No 58 North Street, the retail shop and office premises at the front of the hall, the downstairs being used as offices for Caroline’s accountancy business while the couple lived in the flat upstairs as the conversion work proceeded. “This has been very much a hands on project”, said Caroline, “and I found myself being consulted by the contractors at all hours, sometimes even making snap decisions while in my dressing gown. But the final result has far outweighed any inconveniences and we have both discovered that conversion is the cheapest and most effective way of getting a lovely home.”

Although no expense has been spared in buying the materials and hiring the craftsmen for the refurbishment, Caroline and Paul used local tradesmen and suppliers whenever possible but also sought out bargains from several sources which produced remarkable deals that now have pride of place in their home.

The most notable of these was the purchase of fourteen solid mahogany doors from a large house in Surrey which were bought on eBay, the Internet auction web site, and a complete bedroom suite of furniture from Richardsons, the auction salerooms here in Bourne. Another excellent buy was a number of pews which came from a church in Hampshire, also on eBay, which provided the mahogany for the staircase aprons and window sills.

The traditional red bricks used to build the hall in 1867 were most probably made by Charles Eldred, a local brick and tile manufacturer, who lived at North Lodge, Bourne, and was also a member of the original chapel congregation who donated the land, and they were saved whenever alterations were made to the walls and then incorporated into those sections around new windows and doors to blend in with the originals.

Another feature that has been preserved is part of the parquet floor that survived the tramp of feet from countless generations, finished in a herringbone pattern of pine blocks which were lifted one by one and a large section re-laid as a bedroom floor. “This part of the renovation was a particular problem and Paul spent around two months on cleaning, sanding, smoothing and sealing the wood blocks”, said Caroline, “but seeing the final appearance it was well worth it.”

Restoration work also revealed the baptismal pool underneath the floor of the chapel, used for total immersion during services by the Calvinists in the 19th century, and rather than destroy it the couple decided to cover it over, so preserving another part of the chapel’s history. The bronze plaque recording the hall’s use as a military hospital during the Great War which was removed for safe keeping by Bourne United Charities has also been returned by the trustees to the new owners of the Vestry Hall who have given it pride of place over the front door in the entrance foyer, a fitting touch to a most worthy restoration project.

WRITTEN JULY 2009