Historic Coventry church will be demolished for care home after falling into "disrepair"

What the new care home will look like in Radford, Coventry
-Credit: (Image: Exemplar Health Care)


Developers will knock down a historic but crumbling 1950s Coventry church for a new 38-bed care home. Council officials approved plans to bulldoze St Nicholas' Church on Sherwood Jones Close in Radford last week, 25 September.

The home will be for adults with complex needs and create 100 jobs, according to developers. Work will soon start on demolishing the church and the three-storey home will begin construction at the end of this year.

It is the final chapter for the locally listed church built seventy years ago to replace one destroyed in the Blitz. The plan involves the total loss of the midcentury building though a few items will be saved.

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Heritage experts state in planning documents that the church's historic importance is due to its "unique" design and representing a key part of the city's history - its postwar rebuilding. But they claim this has reduced as the building has "gradually fallen into disrepair."

St Nicholas Church in Radford
St Nicholas Church in Radford -Credit:Google Maps

It was locally listed in 1992 but failed to be recognised nationally fourteen years ago because it had declined so much, they added. 2010 was also the year churchgoers moved to a new building as the church was "unsafe."

The extent of the building's decline was also revealed in documents with plans. Inspectors commissioned by the church's owners and a housebuilding group found severe damp from a leaking roof and damage throughout the church, with photos showing the extent of the disrepair.

Asbestos is also in "numerous areas" of the building, according to a survey. They said the cost to fix all these issues would be a whopping £2.8 million - hundreds of thousands more than redeveloping the site.

The entrance hall to St Nicholas church in Radford which is "severely dilapidated"
The entrance hall to St Nicholas church in Radford which is "severely dilapidated" -Credit:Building defect survey

Plans to knock down the church and develop the site have been in the works for three years. But these attracted comment from historical groups, with the Coventry Society saying it would be a "real loss" to the city.

Responding to plans in 2021, the group called it a "sorry state of affairs" and said the problem of declining churches needs to be tackled nationally. Two years on, the Twentieth Century Society objected to a scheme to build a care home on the site and highlighted the church's importance.

They said the building has "clear potential to be repurposed" as a social or communal space and called for a "conservation-led" approach. But after previous plans were withdrawn or refused over issues with the scheme's design, the third bid to demolish the church proved successful.

Council officers assessing the latest plans admitted there would be "substantial harm" from losing the midcentury building but referred to the "high level of public benefit" stated in scheme documents. They cited the church's "poor condition" and cost of restoring as reasons justifying it being knocked down and acknowledged the church had not been used for 14 years.

Officials also praised the new design for the care home, stating that it took into account the church's heritage value and is designed to be a "high-quality" replacement with "sympathetic" architecture. The scheme reflects the area's special significance, council officers added.

Boarded up windows of St Nicholas Church, Radford
Boarded up windows of St Nicholas Church, Radford -Credit:Building defect report

The latest scheme received little public comment with three people opposing the plans and one letter of suppport. The new care home will have a range of facilities, a 31-space car park and six spaces for the parish hall where St Nicholas' church's congregation is now based.

Church demolition 'only viable option' - city diocese

Following the news, Stephen Davenport from the Diocese of Coventry said they were "sad" to lose the building but it was the only viable option. He said: "We are, of course, sad to see the demolition of the building but it was the only viable option.

"Decisions regarding the church building have not been taken lightly and a full legal consultation has been carried out at every stage. It is planned that proceeds from the sale of land will be used for development of St Francis Church, Radford. This will benefit both the church and the local community.

"In selling the land, it has been of utmost importance to the Diocese that any development on the site was of benefit to the local community and we are delighted that the care home will not only provide help for those receiving support but will offer new career opportunities in Radford."

St Nicholas' Church, Radford
St Nicholas' Church, Radford -Credit:cc-by-sa/2.0 - © Niki Walton - geograph.org.uk/p/583269

Building does not need to be 'sacrificed' - campaign group

But the Twentieth Century Society, which objected to a previous plan to knock down the church, claimed the building could still be saved. In a comment the group said: "The Twentieth Century Society is urging a conservation-led approach to any redevelopment of the site, and believe the possibility of the building being repurposed as a social or communal space within the proposed residential care unit, has yet to be fully explored.

"St Nicholas is a remarkable building and with imagination could be reused and revitalized, not sacrificed to the bulldozer." They also urged the developers to "go back to the drawing board" and rethink the project.

Who will run and build the care home?

Another view of the planned care home in Radford, Coventry
Another view of the planned care home in Radford, Coventry -Credit:Exemplar Health Care

Exemplar Health care which runs over 40 care homes in the UK will operate the new care home and Coventry based Deeley Construction will complete the development. Charlotte Lloyd, Director of Commissioning at Exemplar Health Care, said the project will "make a huge difference to the lives of adults with complex care needs."

She said: "Our new home will greatly improve the experience of people in the local area receiving care and support. People will be able to live closer to friends and family in a purpose built, community-centric care home whilst being supported by a holistic care and nursing team that can help them continue to engage in society and progress their personal goals."

Eleanor Deeley, Joint Managing Director of Deeley Group, said: "We’re looking forward to getting work underway on this development which will transform an unused site into a community for people with complex care needs in Coventry."

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