My wife and her daughter, Rosemary, fell in love with this late Georgian CofE church that had been empty for 7 years. We were looking for a suitable property for Rosemary's ballet school and this old building was ideal. It had ceased to be a parish church back in the 1950s but had continued to be the chapel of a theological college until that closed in the 1990s. It was used between 2005 to 2015 by the local college but thereafter it was empty. It took us 2 years to acquire the building, negotiating with the Church Commissioners, undergoing a Public Consultation and applying for Planning permission and Listed Building Consent.
We finally took possession in 2022 and after 6 months of self funded work to renovate the inside of the building including heating, a new water supply, 2 toilets, a kitchen and new floor covering in the main hall. We were able to open our doors to the Rosemary Bell Academy of Dance and the local community as the Chichester City Arts Centre in September 2022.
The building has its original 19th century (1824) pipe organ which is listed in the National Pipe Organ Register (NPOR), www.npor.org. Air for the organ comes from a 1940s electric motor and fan. Since the organ hasn't been played regularly for many years, the whole instrument; keyboard, levers and cranks (all original and wooden) and the pipes themselves need some TLC. Some of the keys get stuck and the pedal stop too. We don't know the cost of this but it will likely run into a few thousand pounds. But now the electric blower motor has failed. It will cost over a £1000 to repair. The company that could do the work supplied the motor originally!
We need the organ to enable our local community to enjoy playing it and listening to it. The Local Residents hold an annual Christmas Carol concert and the organ is played for them by the retired choirmaster and organist from Chichester Cathedral, Alan Thurlow.
Alan Thurlow playing our organ
From the outset, we have tried to maintain the heritage of the building by keeping as many original features as possible. The organ is one of the key aspects of the building that we are keen to keep going. The organ has attached much interest and a young person in the local community is learning to play at the Cathedral and has asked if he can practice on our organ. The organ is an essential element of our offering to the community and its continued use will enable us to keep going as a hire venue that benefits all.