Forums Forums Wirral History : Chasing the Past Wirral Now and Then St Luke's Church Poulton

They have plans to knock down this fantastic 1907 red brick church and to replace it on the excuse to save £40,000 in maintenance over the next 15 years - at a cost of £400,000 to replace it.

http://www.stlukes.force9.co.uk/

So here is a futuristic Now and Then

yer, out with the old, in with the new, thats what i say !

They getting rid of both?

Get some decent pictures of it incase theres an "accidental" fire or it just gets knocked down

I've got a couple somewhere, holdy on a momento.

Hmm, never mind, it's the thing next to it but still perhaps worth a look.

Yeah, can definately see there being a fire there and it has to be knocked down for safety reasons.

If it's not being used for anything though, as Sanchez said, out with the old and in with the new.

Took some Photos the other day - Church looks in really good condition other than needing a bit of pointing near ground level. The Manorial hall looks in goo structural condition. There is quite a bit of scrap land at the back of the property that seems to belong to the church.

And more

And more again

And lastly (btw sorry to all the photography wizards - I point and shoot - it's always the camera's fault that way).

good photos bud

very good, the gardener is there every week

a bad workman always blames his tools

and on a serious note now there great photos well done dude

Can't a Church be a Listed Building? If only for the fabulous brick-work!???

Wow, fantastic photo's, they are still using it arn't they?
It does seem a shame to knock it down for something more modern, just a pity as it looks impressive.

I was christned there, my sister was married there, every year my school carol service was there..... They cant knock it down...

You tell em' Pete!

I suppose in these days of dwindling congregations, it's a struggle finding money for upkeep of these old structures. It'd be a crying shame if it went - pity they couldn't find a way to make it more 'user-friendly' by making internal alterations or something. I think it looks fascinating, so many angles and levels - a lovely building. The quirky little spire (replaced after the original was lost to bomb damage I believe)gives it a certain quaintness.

The parish hall next door is apparently unsafe for some reason, and can't be used. Pity they couldn't come to some compromise solution and sell that part of the site, and put the income into preserving the red brick church. Ah well, a girl can dream!

Yeah, but they can find £400,000 for a new church and yet can't find £40,000 for maintenance for the old church which would cover the next 15 years! Where would the maintenance money for the new church come from???

Well it looks like there is a lot of legal wrangling going on.

I don't know why they don't close and sell of the hall and its land and use the proceeds to maintain the church. I'm sure they'd raise more than £40,000 to cover the cost of maintenance for the next 15 years.

Well p*ssed off with this whole affair.

CLICKY

think its criminal we are losing all our heritage and landmarks across the wirral too greedy developers and businessmen ...

i think its a fabulous looking church in its dominating position on the hill,and can actually be seen from further across the wirral ,distinctive by its roof and eyecatching bricks

older buildings are so much more pleasurable on the eye than these modern carbunkels.
think it should be saved myself ,but as we all know it will probably be pulled anyway

No doubt if a building is not being used and has not been used to any great degree over a number of years, it must at some point, come under review. The maintenance and heating of the building alone, must be high cost for no good reason if the congregation is minimal. Also the cost of employing a Vicar and others besides must be a contributary factor. When the Diocese make their decissions many factors must come into play including statistics and in present times when people do not attend services in the same way, for whatever reason, and when the bad outweighs the good, harsh decissions are taken.
It's a great pity such a beautiful building may go and I don't know what plans there are, but if another Church is built to replace it, it will be far more economical to run.

This is an old thread but I thought it worth pointing out that the church building is not only still standing but has reopened with a newly refurbished worship area and a friendly coffee bar in the basement.

Good news, VicarPete and good luck. Hope it goes well.



https://www.achurchnearyou.com/poultonparish/

Brilliant

Got a free drinks voucher for their Inspire Café must get it used before it comes tumbling down.. . Knock it down and reuse the bricks to build the new one.. can be a cost neutral exercise and keeps a bit of history.. Trouble with a lot of these old buildings is they can have a big carbon footprint and probably a drain on resources. In a bit of an odd location bordering housing and industrial areas.

Thanks VicarPete, great news.

The Seacombe Reform Church over the last year is going the same way, the main Church has been stripped out and the smaller modern hall is now used for Sunday service, I'm waiting for the bulldozers to move in and knock it down, and someone to build an ugly block of flats on it!

I would have to say that housing is in greater demand than churches. I see the big church at the bottom. Of Manor rd is to let.

We can't always rely on that though (housing), possibility of one church closing, another religious group could take it's place.

Yes granny you are right. I'm thinking of renting the church and opening it as a a pub, before it is turned into A mosque

Exactly what i was thinking Dilly, Maybe open your own community centre.
There is a muslim one in Birkenhead now, with a prayer room in the premises.