Poole Methodist Church

Poole Methodist Church (also known as Poole High Street Methodist Church or The Spire) is a nineteenth-century Methodist church on Poole High Street in Dorset, England. An extension to the church was nominated for the 2016 Carbuncle Cup for "the ugliest building in the United Kingdom completed in the last 12 months".

Not to be confused with Poole Methodist Chapel.

Poole Methodist Church in 2008, prior to the building extension being built

History

A methodist chapel existed in Poole from 1793, but was shut down when the Poole Methodist Church was built.[1][2] Poole Methodist Church was built by Charles Bell between 1878 and 1880 out of Purbeck and Bath stone, and was opened to the public in 1880.[3][4][5][6] It is a gothic building, with a distinguishable large pointed north-west tower, and a chapel building that was built in 1893.[6][3][7][5] Between 1843 and 1985, the church was part of the Poole Methodist Circuit, a collection of methodist churches in the Poole and East Dorset area.[8] During the Second World War, the building was used as a schoolroom.[4]

In 2005, five methodist churches in Poole combined into one congregation based at the Poole Methodist Church.[9] In 2011, the church was used as a polling station for the United Kingdom Alternative Vote referendum.[10]

Renovation
The church from the rear, showing the extension

In the summer of 2009, the church was closed for safety reasons after plaster from the building's walls started to fall off.[3] An application was made that year to renovate and extend the building, to make it the centre of Poole's methodist community.[3][11] The project was estimated to cost £4 million,[12] and was accepted in 2010.[13] Phase one of the project was completed in 2014, with the introduction of a new café;[14] the project received around £200,000 from the Garfield Weston Foundation.[15] The church's windows were later replaced by double glazed windows.[16] The new extension was completed in 2016, with the church rebranding itself as "The Spire".[17] The extension replaced a previous Georgian chapel.[13] In 2016, the extension was nominated for the Carbuncle Cup, an annual award given to "the ugliest building in the United Kingdom completed in the last 12 months".[7][13][18] The Guardian described the extension as "a pile of site Portakabins they forgot to remove."[7]

References
  1. Syndenham, John (1839). The History of the Town and County of Poole. p. 347. Retrieved 19 September 2016.
  2. "An Inventory of the Historical Monuments in Dorset, Volume 2, South east". Her Majesty's Stationery Office. 1970. pp. 189–240. Retrieved 18 September 2016 – via British History Online.
  3. Henderson, Diana (10 November 2009). "Radical revamp for Poole town centre church". Bournemouth Daily Echo. Retrieved 17 September 2016.
  4. "Poole High Street" (PDF) (pdf). Poole Tourism. Retrieved 17 September 2016.
  5. Stöber, Harald (January 2013). Augen auf im Abendland! Touren, die zum Nachdenken zwingen (in German). Engelsdorfer Verlag. ISBN 9783862687879. Retrieved 17 September 2016.
  6. Newman, John; Pevsner, Nikolaus (1972). Dorset. Yale University Press. ISBN 0300095988. Retrieved 25 September 2016.
  7. Wainwright, Oliver (2 September 2016). "Carbuncle Cup 2016: gong for UK's ugliest building up for grabs". The Guardian. Retrieved 17 September 2016.
  8. "Poole Methodist Circuit". Dorset History Centre. Retrieved 19 September 2016 – via The National Archives.
  9. "Poole Methodists celebrate 10 years of unity at new building". Bournemouth Echo. 1 November 2015. Retrieved 19 September 2016.
  10. Morton, James (6 May 2011). "Poole's quiet polling stations on 'Super Thursday'". The Press. Retrieved 18 September 2016.
  11. "Scoping Study for Poole Churches" (PDF) (pdf). One Church, 100 Uses. June 2009. pp. 15–17. Retrieved 17 September 2016.
  12. Jachec, Katarzyna (23 January 2012). "£4m Poole community centre". The Breaker. Retrieved 18 September 2016.
  13. Astrup, Juliette (17 August 2016). "The ugliest extension in Britain? Poole church's cafe nominated for Carbuncle Award". The Argus. Retrieved 18 September 2016.
  14. Durkin, Jim (28 October 2014). "The Spire community hub nearing completion as volunteers help transform former church". Bournemouth Daily Echo. Retrieved 17 September 2016.
  15. Durkin, Jim (28 October 2014). "The Spire community hub nearing completion as volunteers help transform former church". Waltham Forest, Chingford, Wanstead & Woodford Guardian. Retrieved 18 September 2016.
  16. "Borough of Poole Planning". Dorset Echo. 21 August 2015. Retrieved 18 September 2016.
  17. "Poole Methodist Church becomes The Spire". Blackmore Vale. 25 February 2016. Retrieved 17 September 2016.
  18. "Carbuncle Cup 2016: Luxury flats dubbed 'embodiment of sea sickness'". BBC News. 7 September 2016.

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