This redundant and deconsecrated small grade II* church, now within the Ministry of Defence site at StAthan, is a surprising casualty of the pressures on the defence budget. Under a previous ambitious proposal for developing the St Athan airfield into a national military technical training academy, this building was to be repaired and refitted as part of an area for quiet contemplation on the edge of the development. This PFI project was cancelled in October 2010, judged undeliverable, and recently the base has learned also that a proposed smaller training academy will now be sited elsewhere. Reports are that although the base will continue to have an important defence role, its future, and therefore that of the building, is not clear. The church was last in use in the 1980s, fell
Eglwys Brewis St Brise, near St Athan Vale of Glamorgan
into disrepair, and was bought by MoD to safeguard its land. Thus it escaped possible conversion to a dwelling, or dereliction. Under the now defunct Defence Technical College Project, Metrix, the MoD’s preferred PFI partners, commissioned a condition report and an archaeological report from conservation architects Caroe & Partners’ Cardiff office, a structural report from Mann Williams and a report on the wallpaintings from Jane Rutherfoord. Subsequently, in 2009, holding repairs to
make the building weatherproof, including the installation of protective metal roof covering following theft of slates and extensive ivy control, were carried out by Caroes. The post-medieval wallpaintings, including a fine coat of arms and profitable texts, were given emergency stabilising treatment by Jane Rutherfoord. What makes this church of special interest to
SPAB is, to quote a 1900 edition of the Wales Daily News, that repair “work is being carried out under the auspices of the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings by Mr William Weir, an architect appointed by them”. The immensely detailed, informative, and beautiful, drawings made by him in 1900 are still in the Society’s archives, and have been made available to the present architect and archaeologist, who have drawn up their full repair proposals in the light of those of their predecessor. William Weir was a pupil of Philip Webb,
which makes the work here “an important example of the methodology of the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings just 25 years after its foundation”. It wasWeir’s first solo job, although mentored byWebb, and the treatment of the chancel arch, specifically recommended by SPAB, was known as a “Webb’s sandwich”; Webb also reputedly designed the surviving altar rails. SPAB later featured this case in its exhibition “A School of
30 Cornerstone, Vol 32, No 3 2011
Above and left, St Brise, Vale of Glamorgan – a repair project for the SPAB luminary William Weir, circa 1900. This fascinating ancient church lies within a high-security Ministry of Defence site. Last used more more than 25 years ago, it was subsequently bought by the MoD as an element of a portion of land it had acquired. As such, it has remained excluded from any applications for conversion into a dwelling or re-use. Holding repairs carried out by Caroe & Partners, and wallpainting conservation by Jane Rutherfoord, have ensured the building’s survival and the protection of its historic interest. Structurally robust and in overall good shape though the building now is, it remains empty and out of bounds to the public. The SPAB would welcome a sensitive new use for the building
Rational Builders”, held at the Heinz Gallery in London in the early 1980s. So far so good. But what of the future?
Further work has been suspended, the temporary stabilisation of the wallpaintings has a limited life-span. The church is empty, unused, with later emulsion still peeling from the walls, pews in store, the churchyard unmanaged, bramble thickets and tall security fencing almost hiding it from view. The site has a high security status which virtually prevents public access; and for the cash-strapped MoD spending money on a redundant
church is not high on their list of priorities. Yet the church is a usable space, basically
structurally robust, adjacent to a former main entrance to the site and part of a tiny group of traditional buildings within the compound pre-dating it. Providing a new role for this important little church is a challenge but should not be insuperable. SPAB hopes to help in this.
Judith Leigh
Thanks to the MoD and Caroe & Partners for arranging access to building and documentation.
CAROE & PARTNERS
CAROE & PARTNERS
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