House for sale

St Mark's Church, the former Feilden Estate family church, was built in the 1836 to 1838 period in a Romanesque style with later additions in 1870 and 1881 to 1887.

The church is located within a popular residential Blackburn suburb to Witton Country Park, the campus of the adjacent High School/Technology College, fringing the Witton park sports field complex.

The church site has flank frontage to Higher Witton Road.

Within the church grounds are two portable buildings and Pre-App advice from Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council was reasonably positive to the concept of introducing vehicle access and car parking within the church yard, subject to detailed considerations.  

TENURE Advised leasehold 

ACCOMMODATION  

GROUND FLOOR  

PORCH  

INNER VESTIBULE With staircase off 

ASSEMBLY/BREAK OUT AREA 25' 3" x 17' 7" (7.7m x 5.38m)  

KITCHEN OFF 10' 1" x 7' 2" (3.09m x 2.2m) With a range of base, wall and cupboard units and gas and water heater, clay tiled floor 

MALE & FEMALE TOILET 5' 10" x 2' 8" (1.8m x 0.83m)  

DISABLED WC 5' 10" x 7' 1" (1.8m x 2.17m) Plus under stairs store off 

MAIN WORSHIP SPACE 35' 10" x 47' 9" (10.93m x 14.56m) Plus north transept (five sided principal dimensions 5.5m maximum x 6.25m) 

SOUTH TRANCEPT 19' 9" x 20' 2" (6.04m x 6.16m)  

SIDE PORCH 6' 7" x 4' 5" (2.02m x 1.37m)  

CHANCEL/CHAPEL AREA 31' 9" x 13' 5" (9.7m x 4.1m) Access to tower off 

VESTRY/OFFICE 8' 10" x 14' 5" (2.7m x 4.4m)  

FIRST FLOOR  

FORMER BALCONY/ACTIVITY ROOM 31' 5" x 17' 8" (9.6m x 5.4m) Plus kitchen off 2.1m x 1.1m 

OUTSIDE Large grassed Church Yard Burial, Vault on south side (external access only), tree lined boundaries, various temporary buildings within the church yard including Porta-cabin. 

GENERAL INFORMATION  

ROOM DIMENSIONS The room dimensions quoted are taken to the widest part of each room. 

OFFERS Offers in excess of £100,000. Details of your proposal are also required.

Offers to lease should include term of lease (years), rent, etc. 

PLANNING/RE-DEVELOPMENT POTENTIAL Planning permission will not be required for a use of the building falling within Use Class F1 - non residential institutional use.

The range of uses which fall within this class include suitable for school, non-residential education and training centres, museum, public library, public halls, exhibition halls, places of worship, law courts without requiring planning permission.

Planning permission and Listed Building Consents will be required for any other use e.g. Children's Nursery, residential or commercial use.

Any alterations to the fabric internally or externally will require Planning and Listen Building Consent, in addition to Building Regulations approval.

The Local Authority have responded positively to an application for advice on the likelihood of consent being granted for vehicle access and car parking within the church yard to support a range of unspecified alternative uses.

Informed discussions with Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council's Planning Team suggest that a conversion to a dwelling will be supported provided the area of first floor accommodation is restricted to approximately 33 1/3 % (the westerly end) of the nave. i.e. The general sense of full height openness will need to be preserved, retaining the chancel and north and south transepts as they are at present. 

PROCEDURE FOR SALE OR LEASE A closed Church of England Church is sold/let under a special legal provision known as a Pastoral (Church Buildings Disposal) Scheme, which empowers the Church Commissioners to dispose of the property for a specific use. The sale or lease of St marks Church would, therefore, be subject to the making of such a scheme following public consultation, as well as to the need to obtain planning permission etc. Further details about the procedures involved may be found on the Commissioner's website at .

A closed church building is also usually sold/leased with covenants which are included in the transfer of the property to ensure that only the approved development is carried out. Further details will be available from the agents.

In addition, it is stipulation of the Church Commissioners that any alterations to the exterior of the church should be limited and sympathetic to its historic interest and architectural qualities.

The Pastoral Scheme and Local Authority Planning Authority procedures can continue in tandem but no formal disposal/lease will be completed until such time as the Pastoral (Church Buildings Disposal) Scheme has been formally approved by the Church of England.

It is important to appreciate therefore that the submission of an offer is only part of the process required to achieve a sale or lease - a process which may take several months.  

PLEASE NOTE VIEWINGS ARE TO BE ARRANGED THROUGH PROCTORS AND ARE BY APPOINTMENT ONLY. WE HAVE NOT TESTED ANY APPARATUS, EQUIPMENT, FIXTURES, FITTINGS OR SERVICES AND SO CANNOT VERIFY IF THEY ARE IN WORKING ORDER OR FIT FOR THEIR PURPOSE.