Contractors have commenced the restoration of the Sunday School at Union Chapel. These essential works mean the unique architecture and heritage of the building will be preserved and brought back to life for the community to use and for future generations. The project will improve both the environmental performance of, and access to, the building.
The Union Chapel is an architectural treasure that’s home to a working church, an award-winning venue, a unique organ and The Margins Project for those homeless and in crisis in London.
The Chapel is a Victorian brick complex of buildings, which includes the Grade I listed Tower and Chapel, the separately Grade II* Listed Sunday School, Halls, Committee room building and the recently repurposed Vestry block. The buildings were in danger of collapse in the 80s when a huge program of repairs averted the imminent danger. However, it is still on the Heritage at Risk Register, Category C. The Sunday School Stories project is the next phase in the masterplan, produced by BFF, for its conservation and ongoing development, following extensive community and stakeholder consultation.
Inside, the Hall is a large, airy, double height space with a three-sided wrap-around wrought iron balcony. The balcony is complete with original study booths and library. It is a space that combines simple grandeur and practicality – it was intended to cater for a wide range of activities, including classes for up to 180 children and families, sports, tea parties and bazaars.
The Sunday School has a huge undocumented archive of records, books, artefacts and memorabilia from the last 200 years. The archive is an untapped treasure trove of stories. It tells the tales of nonconformists and their 100-year journey from persecuted minority to being part of the establishment and of Union Chapel’s unique history as one of the UK’s most respected music venues.
The project will transform the currently decaying, inaccessible collection into a restored and fully catalogued archive for the first time inviting the community to discover the everyday life at Union Chapel with insights into the lives of real local people and their ambitions for a better world.
Most importantly though it will open up this little seen room and its collection for dedicated community use, cultural activity, ideas sharing and participative events – giving future generations the chance to create new stories of their own.
Faye Davies, our Managing Director, who is leading the Union Chapel project explains more about the Sunday School restoration and its history in this video.