'˜At risk' city centre building to be saved

Architects for the Seventh Day Adventist Church in Grimshaw Street have applied for listed building consent to carry out essential repairs to the roof of the 158-year-old place of worship.

The Grade II Listed building has been designated as “at risk” since 2011 due to a series of problems including a leaking roof.

The Seventh Day Adventists hope that by carrying out the work, which is partly financed by the Heritage Lottery Fund, the church will be weather-proof and could, after seven years, be removed from the “at risk” list.

Plans submittted to Preston City Council say the church, built in 1859, is considered to have “high cultural significance” due to its design, townscape value and historical associations with the Seventh Day Adventist and Congregational movements locally.

Work on the roof will be the fourth stage of an extensive repair programme for a building which looked to be under threat seven years ago. Water leaking into the church caused damage to walls and the roof structure.

Earlier phases have included repairs to the tower and spire, the west gable, walls and gutters. The final stage will include re-slating the roof and repairs to the east gable wall over the organ chamber. The church was built as the Grimshaw Street Congregational Chapel and became a United Reform Church in 1972. It was bought by the Seventh Day Adventists in 2005.