286, Southampton
286, formerly Swaythling Methodist Church, is a grade II listed gurdwara and former church building in Swaythling, Southampton. The building was owned and managed by Southampton Methodist Circuit with City Life Church providing assistance with the day-to-day operations. Until the building was sold in 2021, Swaythling Methodist Church continued to meet on the premises in the Nona Bell Centre as a community of St James Road Methodist Church in Shirley, having closed as an official Methodist Church in 2013.
Building
The building includes a number of halls and smaller rooms in addition to the main auditorium, as well as a manse and some workshops.[1] Designed by Herbert Collins in a neo-Georgian style and built in 1932, following his construction of many houses in the surrounding area, with the remit "I have built the houses, now build a place for the people to go".[citation needed] The buildings were constructed in partnership with J. Arthur Rank with full cinema facilities. The projector room is still present.[1] The main auditorium is octagonal with a balcony over the entrance porch; the balcony is accessible via two stair towers on the north face. Attached to the south side is a wing containing other halls and rooms. Separate buildings on the west of the site contain some workshops and the manse.[1] The roof of the main hall is shallowly domed and clad in copper, topped by a copper-clad cupola.[1]
The whole site was grade II listed on 20 November 1997.[1]
In April 2016,[2] the Methodist Council approved the transfer of the building, then valued at £900,000 to City Life Church under the provisions of "Model Trust 20" - a Methodist Church policy that allows buildings to be sold below their value if it enables Christian worship to continue on the premises. The transfer - technically a sale at nil value - was justified on the basis of the significant maintenance costs, with an estimate that over £900,000 worth of repairs to the building were needed.[3]
However, in April 2018[4] the Council noted that "it has not been possible to find an acceptable form of wording for the requirements for a trust of sale" This was partly because Model Trust 20 included a "reverter" clause which meant that, should a building be subsequently sold by the new owner, net proceeds of that sale should be given to the Methodist Church. The Council therefore adopted a new version of Model Trust 20 that altered these terms.[5]
In 2021, the Methodist Church again altered the Model Trust 20 policy, introducing clause 6: "Once the Council has approved the ‘in principle’ decision to sell for less than best price, completion of the sale must take place within three years from that point."[6] With the under-value sale having been approved in 2016 this meant that the term for selling 286 had expired and it was placed for sale on the open market with a guide price of £1.2 million; it was sold to a Sikh group who then launched a £50,000 renovation plan, converting the building into a Gurdwara.[7]
References
- ^ a b c d e "Swaythling Methodist Church including church hall, workshops and Manse". British Listed Buildings. Archived from the original on 9 February 2011. Retrieved 8 September 2010.
- ^ "Methodist Council papers 2-4 April 2016". www.methodist.org.uk. Archived from the original on 18 August 2021. Retrieved 16 August 2021.
- ^ Wilkins, Louise. "MC/16/44 Sale of Swaythling Methodist Church" (PDF). The Methodist Church. Archived (PDF) from the original on 16 August 2021. Retrieved 16 August 2021.
- ^ "Methodist Council papers 14-16 April 2018". www.methodist.org.uk. Archived from the original on 24 October 2020. Retrieved 16 August 2021.
- ^ Wilkins, Louise. "MC/18/40 Sales under Paragraph 20 of the Model Trusts" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 18 August 2021. Retrieved 16 August 2021.
- ^ "Agenda: The Conference 2021" (PDF). The Methodist Church. Archived (PDF) from the original on 28 June 2021. Retrieved 16 August 2021.
- ^ "Historic Southampton church to get new lease of life as temple". Daily Echo. Archived from the original on 14 August 2021. Retrieved 16 August 2021.
- v
- t
- e
- 286 (Swaythling Methodist Church)
- Avenue St. Andrew's Church
- Central Baptist Church
- Christ Church, Freemantle
- Conduit House
- Highfield Church
- Holyrood Church
- Jesus Chapel
- St. Alban's Church
- St Denys Priory
- St Edmund's Church
- St Joseph's Church
- St James' Church, Shirley
- St Mary's Church
- St Michael and All Angels Church
- Bitterne railway station
- Cobden Bridge
- Itchen Bridge
- Mans Bridge
- Millbrook railway station
- Northam Bridge
- Redbridge Bridge
- Redbridge railway station
- Sholing railway station
- Southampton Central railway station
- Southampton Terminus railway station
- St Denys railway station
- Swaythling railway station
- Woolston railway station
- Bitterne Park School
- Cantell School
- King Edward VI School
- Oasis Academy Lord's Hill
- Oasis Academy Mayfield
- Redbridge Community School
- Regents Park Community College
- Sholing Technology College
- St Anne's Catholic School
- Saint George Catholic College
- St Mark's CE School
- Upper Shirley High School
- Weston Secondary School
- Woodlands Community College
- Carlton Place drill hall
- God's House Hospital
- Southampton Castle
- Civic Centre (SeaCity Museum, Southampton City Art Gallery, Southampton Guildhall)
- South Stoneham House
- Old Cemetery
- Ordnance Survey buildings
- Peartree House
- Royal South Hants Hospital
- Titanic Engineers' Memorial
- Townhill Park House
- Wyndham Court
- God's House Tower
- Hollybrook Cemetery
- King George V Graving Dock
- Carnival House
- Centenary Quay
- Ford Southampton plant
- Marlands Shopping Centre
- National Oceanography Centre
- Ocean Village
- Solent Sky aviation museum
- South Stoneham Cemetery
- Southampton Courts of Justice
- Southampton General Hospital
- St Mary's Stadium
- Titanic Musicians' Memorial
- Westquay
Category
Listed buildings