St Peter and St Paul’s church – Birch Essex – August 2015

The history

There is very little history regarding this place on the net so here is what I could find

The 170 year old Grade II-listed St Peter and St Paul’s church in Birch, near Colchester, which closed in 1990, it has stood empty for almost 25 years and has fallen into disrepair.

The Diocsese of Chelmsford, which looks after the Church of England’s affairs in Essex, says it has been unable to find a suitable alternative use for the historic building in that time.
Regrettably, despite having found a willing buyer for the church who is prepared to spend £1,200,000 restoring this iconic landmark, the Church Commissioners in consultation with the Diocese of Chelmsford, have decided to proceed with their plans to demolish.
In our opinion, this is unnecessary destruction of local heritage. The resultant harm will not only be in the loss of this Grade II listed building but also the detrimental impact of the loss on the Birch Conservation Area and the surrounding landscape.


The explore

I first became made aware of the church many months ago by another exploring companion who had spotted it but been told to go away by a local lady. Well on our way to somewhere else I suddenly remembered this and we ended up taking a detour. Especially as its always good to do something new rather than a re-explore.

It was still daylight as we got there and began to explore the external of the building to find a way in. The place is surrounded by a corrugated steel fence supported by scaffolding poles. Although it was easy to climb over the gap between the fence and the church was full of stingers and sharp thorn bushes with no real way through and into the church.

We then changed tactics and tried another way. This was more than successful and albeit a little sketchy and dangerous, we managed to crawl in lol

Wow, our first church. It was a little worse for wear inside with scaffolding holding up the roof and various rotten holes in the floor, You can tell by how rotten it is inside why the powers that be want it pulled down. However, as rotten as it is its still beautiful inside and worth and explore. We climbed the various bits of scaffolding and had a general wander round inside. We found a few prayer books, hymn books and song sheets scattered around. It’s a shame that the benches and alter have been taken apart but I’m sure they will be used elsewhere.

The windows that hadn’t been broken where still amazing and I’m sure you will agree that it will be a crying shame to tear it down

Enjoy the pictures

Churches with cemeteries attached are notoriously difficult to sell, even when it's demolished it won't be much easier, Nicely Done, Thanks

Sadly; restoring redundant churches and then finding alternate uses can mean a constant drain on cash and endless tears and frustration. Over the years I have come across a number of very picturesque ruins where one can wander around the remains and grounds. When enquiring about the history, one inevitably finds that an abandoned building has been beautified and turned into a safe ruin that compliments the landscape. Knowing this church, I concur with the author of the report that total demolition would be detrimental to the landscape. However, turning the structure into a roofless and windowless ruin and gently landscaping the graveyard would provide a stunning feature and landscape for the local people to enjoy. We all marvel at the majesty of the ruined Abbeys, why not create something a little special here instead of complete demolition or profit?

Your right the windows are quite something! I dread to think what will happen to them! Great shots and thanks for sharing

Nice write up and a fantastic set of photos.
Glad you persisted with it, thanks for sharing

We went there today to see if its still there and plan to go back soon as it was dusk so the light was terrible and was getting wet. I hear it is down to be demolished at the end of January, such a shame.

That is sad, just come across this on Geograph so it was still up in September St.Peter's & St.Paul's Church, Birch (C) Adrian Cable :: Geograph Britain and Ireland

a good record of whats not goin to be there any longer, thats a real shame.

I find it concerning that an grade two building can easily be granted demolition this has happened at Sheffield with the old Jessops Hospital when the University was allowed permission to demolish despite much local oppersition. Churches can be reused IV seen it done elsewhere. Nice report.

Thanks for this. I was brought up in the house next to this church, I was married there and my Dad is buried inside the corrugated barriers so we can't even visit his grave. I now live in Cornwall and although i have been back i cant get in the church. It's great to see the inside again however bleak - in fact really atmospheric. The windows I remember so well and the Psalm notice as well. Thanks again Nigel Logan

Hi Nigel

Such a shame you can't get to see your dads grave. If you would like to know how I did it drop me a pm

Went there this weekend. So so sad. I used to see the steeple from my mums bedroom window across the fields when I was a little girl. This church has always been my favourite and there is something about it that I love
I feel so sorry for the families that have relatives buried right where the corrugated fencing is
Why can’t they just leave this church to become ruins and let people enjoy in the future
So so unfair
I would love to go inside though although dangerous now

Carol G said:

Went there this weekend. So so sad. I used to see the steeple from my mums bedroom window across the fields when I was a little girl. This church has always been my favourite and there is something about it that I love
I feel so sorry for the families that have relatives buried right where the corrugated fencing is
Why can’t they just leave this church to become ruins and let people enjoy in the future
So so unfair
I would love to go inside though although dangerous now

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Yes its been fenced for quite a few years now & is full of scafold supports.
Is a shame they dont make the necessary repairs to make it stable if nothing else.

BikinGlynn said:

Yes its been fenced for quite a few years now & is full of scafold supports.
Is a shame they dont make the necessary repairs to make it stable if nothing else.

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Yes it’s truly sad

ironsky said:

I find it concerning that an grade two building can easily be granted demolition this has happened at Sheffield with the old Jessops Hospital when the University was allowed permission to demolish despite much local oppersition. Churches can be reused IV seen it done elsewhere. Nice report.

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As I have said too. One in Chiswick was adapted for living accommodation. The problem here appears to be the adjacent graveyard. Just how many people now living have relatives buried there?
And how many visit those graves? Should the graves be left untouched for the next 100 or 1,000 years? If so, why?

A similar Chapel in Ware Cemetery was refurbished and converted into several apartments about twenty years ago, still in the middle of an untouched graveyard... see here:- Old cemetery and chapel, Ware
As for the value of these desirable properties now ...... :- Property valuation for The Old Chapel, North Wing, Watton Road, Ware, East Hertfordshire, SG12 0AX | The Move Market

I came across this church years ago and I know its featured on here as the photos from the tower were something else Holy Trinity is the blog I wrote on it, the place has been converted into flats now, not sure if the cemetery is still there but it shows what they can do with a place which the roof was falling in. Not sure I would live in the place though

night crawler said:

I came across this church years ago and I know its featured on here as the photos from the tower were something else Holy Trinity is the blog I wrote on it, the place has been converted into flats now, not sure if the cemetery is still there but it shows what they can do with a place which the roof was falling in. Not sure I would live in the place though

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Sad to read about the surveyor falling through the roof and being killed. A warning to all 'explorers'. I wonder what parts of the tower are now in use.
Ealing's Victorian Town Hall building has a clock tower. The room beneath the clock mechanism was used by the Ealing Photographic Society as a darkroom;
having no windows it was ideal. I was once a member of the EPS, and used the well-equipped darkroom.