Church of England puts swift end to conversion of Grade II-listed building into mosque
The Church of England has intervened at the last minute to block the controversial conversion of a Grade II-listed former church into a Mosque.
Just days ago, a council had granted a Muslim charity planning permission to convert St John’s Church in Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent, into a place of Islamic worship.
The ex-church had been marred in controversy in July when social media footage emerged appearing to show stacks of gravestones, some of them damaged, piled up by the site as it underwent “essential works” – which it disputed online.
Though the site had at first been turned into a cafe and antiques centre, it was then sold to the Zamir Foundation which won permission from Stoke-on-Trent City Council to turn it into a mosque on August 15.
In the aftermath of the planning success, numerous locals contacted their local authority to have their say on the plans.
Some 34 people wrote in support of the conversion – with 28 objecting.
The charity had planned to install a museum, multi-faith library and women’s-only gym inside the building – but now, the Church of England has said no.
The CoE blocked the development by using a legal clause prohibiting the church from being used for any kind of non-Christian worship – a restriction in place since its 2009 sale by the diocese of Lichfield.
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The Church Commissioners, the body which manages the CoE’s investments, confirmed the Zamir Foundation had been informed of the intervention.
A spokesman for the body said: “The Church Commissioners is aware that planning permission has been granted for changes to St John’s Hanley.
“We support former churches being used for community purposes, but a restrictive covenant prohibits the use of the building as a place of worship other than as a church, and the Commissioners has explained this to the owner.”
While Zabi Zamir, a spokesman from the Zamir Foundation, had previously hailed the planning permission’s awarding as a “positive step towards enhancing community services and fostering inclusivity”.
The Church of England will consider bringing legal action against the charity if it ignores the covenant and goes ahead with the mosque conversion, The Telegraph reported.
While the CoE has clamped down on religious conversions in its churches, sites across the country have raised eyebrows as dioceses have found alternative uses for their sites.
A number of former places of Anglican worship have seen conversion to nightclubs – like St Andrew’s Church in Bournemouth and the now-Chapel Nightclub in Salisbury.
While St Mark’s in Newcastle and St Benedict’s in West Gorton, Manchester, have been transformed into climbing walls.