THE FORMER CHURCH OF ST. MARY MAGDALENE

Suitable for Conversion into One, Two or Three Dwellings

(and other uses, all subject to Planning and Listed Building Consent)



HIGH ROAD, GUYHIRN
NEAR WISBECH, CAMBRIDGESHIRE, PE13 4ED

Expressions of Interest are Invited from Prospective Purchasers

GUIDE PRICE: Offers in the Region of £50,000 Considered
(Subject to Contract, Proof of Funds, Proposed Use & Ability to Proceed).


THE VILLAGE OF GUYHIRN is located just off the A.47 about 6 miles south-west of the fenland market town of Wisbech and about 15 miles east of the city of Peterborough. The village has a primary school and a pub/restaurant. March, which lies about 6 miles to the south, also has a good range of facilities, including a rail link with Peterborough, Ely and Cambridge.
THE GRADE II LISTED FORMER CHURCH OF ST. MARY MAGDALENE is believed to date from 1878 and is reputedly to a design by the renowned Victorian architect Sir George Gilbert Scott (1811-1878). It is of wire-cut gault brick construction with freestone dressings and a plain tiled roof.
THE SITE
That part of the churchyard edged red on the sale plan is included in the sale and will be sold by the Church Commissioners (“the Commissioners”).
The adjoining land edged blue on the plan (owned by The Ely Diocesan Board of Finance, “the DBF”) will also be included, to provide a rear garden area, but as a separate conveyance.
CHURCHYARD
There are no burials in the churchyard. Several of the trees are subject to a Tree Preservation Order under Reference TPO 03/2009 dated the 14th August 2009.
PLEASE NOTE: The war memorial on the road frontage, which is also Listed (Grade II), is excluded from the sale.
THE ACCOMMODATION is as follows (N.B. All dimensions are approximate) :-
Entrance Porch:
Nave: 55' 4” x 24' 10” (16.87m x 7.57m). Archway and step up to:-
Chancel: 30' x 20' 9” (9.14m x 6.33m).
South and North Transepts: Each 16' x 14' (4.88m x 4.27m). Doors to front and north churchyard.
SERVICES
It is understood that mains supplies of water and electricity and the public sewer are available for connection.
IMPORTANT NOTE:
The building has undergone structural movement in the past.
A report obtained from structural engineers in 2006, when the building was still in use for public worship, indicated that the building might need underpinning at that time.
Monitoring since 2006 has shown that there has been no significant further movement, although some seasonal movement, typical of fenland structures, has been known to occur.
Two further structural engineers' reports have since been obtained. One was prepared by The Morton Partnership Ltd of London in June 2023. The second was prepared by Gawn Associates of Oakington, Cambridge in January 2024. Both reports concluded that the building was not in danger of collapse. The reports also identified the likely causes for the past movement and made recommendations for reducing the risk of seasonal movement recurring by ensuring, as far as possible, that the sub-soil moisture content is kept at a constant level. Details of the recommendations will be made available on site for prospective purchasers information. These are being provided in good faith for the guidance of prospective purchasers only who must carry out and rely upon their own investigations to confirm the findings as the Vendor, The Morton Partnership Ltd, Gawn Associates and the Selling Agents are unable to accept liability or responsibility to any third party in this respect.
VIEWING
PLEASE NOTE: Prospective purchasers are advised that they may view the property on the strict understanding that they do so entirely at their own risk. There are hidden earthworks in the churchyard and the interior has suffered from considerable past defecation by birds and bats. Neither the Seller nor the Agents accept any responsibility for any injury they may suffer during their inspection. Under no circumstances will children will be permitted on site.
Please contact our Sales Office (01733-344-222 Option 1) for arrangements to view the interior of the former Church which will be on an “open-house” basis at set times during a period of four weeks to allow time for prospective purchasers to submit expressions of interest for consideration by the Vendor.
TOWN AND COUNTRY PLANNING
Detailed discussions have taken place with Fenland District Council in regard to the preparation of an acceptable scheme for the future use of the former Church. Detailed drawings, prepared by Headley Stokes Associates, for the possible conversion of the building into a maximum of three dwellings have been approved in principle by Fenland District Council and are reproduced in these particulars. It is understood that alternative proposals for residential conversion schemes for either one or two dwellings would also be given favourable consideration, subject to agreement on the details.
The Vendor is also willing to consider alternative uses to other than solely residential use, but interested parties would need to demonstrate that such use would be sustainable in the long-term.
LEGAL NOTES:
Guyhirn St. Mary Magdalene is a consecrated building which has been formally declared closed for regular public worship under the provisions of the Pastoral Measure 1983.
Under the Measure, the Ely Diocesan Church Uses Committee has a duty to make every endeavour to find a suitable alternative use for the building and to negotiate provisional terms of sale.
The Committee has decided to carry out this duty by offering the building and churchyard for sale, subject to the conditions and stipulations set out herein.
The Committee has no power of sale, but it will report the results of any offers received to the Church Commissioners, who have a Scheme in place for the sale of the land edged red for residential use, but also have power to agree, to prepare and issue for public consultation under the provisions of the Measure, a new draft scheme for other suitable alternative uses which, when it becomes effective, will appropriate the property to the use approved by the Commissioners and will empower them to sell the building and annexed land for that use. Upon the scheme becoming effective, the building and churchyard will be freed from the legal effects of consecration.
One of the requirements of the Measure is that the Commissioners must consult the Church Buildings Council as to proposed alterations to the building for a use other than residential before a new scheme can be issued. For this reason, the person making the most satisfactory offer will be required to submit to the Commissioners copies of the plans they intend to use to apply for detailed planning and Listed Building consent. Under the statutory procedures, the draft scheme has to be published and any representations considered. It is only when the scheme has been made (i.e. signed) by the Commissioners, that the property vests in the Commissioners for sale for a specific use.
CONDITIONS OF SALE
The sale of the land and building edged red and blue on the plan will be subject, inter alia, to the following conditions and covenants:-
(a) The Commissioners, do not bind themselves to accept the highest (or any) offer.
(b) Unless otherwise agreed, within 42 days of being notified that an offer is, in principle, acceptable to the Commissioners (in respect of the land and buildings edged red on the sale plan - “the red land”) and the Ely Diocesan Assets Committee (in respect of the land edged blue on the sale plan - “the blue land”), the proposed Purchaser of the property will be required to enter into simultaneous conditional contracts for the purchase of the respective properties.
(c) The contracts under (b) above will allow the preferred purchaser eight weeks in which to submit and register (at the Purchaser's own expense) valid detailed planning and Listed Building applications with Fenland District Council.
(d) Following the validation of the applications referred to under (c) above, the purchaser will be given a 16 week period of exclusivity in order to obtain the formal planning and Listed Building consents for the conversion of the former Church.
(e) During the period the contracts referred to under (b) above remain conditional, the Vendors will reserve the right to rescind the same if (i) the Purchaser markets the property for sale or lease in any way or (ii) enters into an arrangement with a third party to dispose of his conditional interest or (iii) fails to adhere to the time limits referred to under (c) and (d) above.
(f) Within a period of six months from the date of completion of purchase, the Purchaser to:-
(1) carry out such works or repairs as may be required to render the building in a stable and safe condition to the satisfaction of the Commissioners' Surveyors and thereafter to keep the said building in the like condition and
(g) The Purchaser shall not use the property other than for the approved purpose nor for any illegal or immoral purpose nor for any purpose which may be or become a nuisance, annoyance or disturbance to the transferor nor which shall (in the opinion of at least two of the following: the Bishop of Ely, the Dean of Ely Cathedral and the Archdeacon of Huntingdon and Wisbech) be offensive to the principles and practice of the Christian faith.
(h) The Purchaser shall not demolish, or permit to be demolished, any building on the said property or any part thereof without the prior written consent of the Commissioners.
(i) The Purchaser shall forthwith erect and forever after maintain in a prominent position, a notice board indicating that the said property is now used for the approved purpose under (g) above.
(j) The Purchaser shall not make or permit any architectural or structural changes in any building on the said property or any part thereof except in accordance with plans previously approved in writing by the Commissioners.
(k) The Purchaser shall within a period of two years from the date of completion of purchase carry out and complete the works shown on the plans referred to under (j) above.
(l) The Purchaser shall allow access, at all reasonable times and on reasonable notice, to the Vendors' surveyor to enable him to inspect the works to be undertaken by the Purchaser in accordance with these covenants.
(m) The Purchaser shall not damage any monument or memorial in the property nor, without the Vendors' consent, to remove or disturb any such.
(n) The Purchaser shall not grow anything on the property which may weaken or undermine the structure of any building or wall on the property nor to allow any trees or shrubs within 3 metres of any such building or wall to grow to a height greater than 1.5 metres (unless such trees or shrubs are protected by a Tree Preservation Order or are within a designated Conservation Area).
(o) The Purchaser shall not to permit or allow use of the property for the solemnization of marriages under Section 26(1)(bb) of the Marriage Act 1949 or as a place at which two people may register as civil partners of each other under Section 6 of the Civil Partnerships Act 2004 or under any other legislation for the time being in force amending or replacing the said Acts.
(p) The Commissioners reserve the right to remove any monuments or memorials prior to completion of the sale (subject to Listed Building Consent).
GENERAL NOTES
1. The Vendors reserved rights of access for all purposes and at all times over the driveway to the adjoining (former) Vicarage when it was sold in 1982, subject to the payment of 1/3rd of the cost of maintaining the drive. The present owners of the former Vicarage have erected a temporary fence along the south side of the driveway in order to protect their privacy pending completion of the conversion of the former Church.
2. The plans included in these particulars are for information purposes only. Any dimensions are intended as an approximate guide only and their accuracy is not guaranteed.
3. Prospective purchasers are advised that it may take several months to obtain the necessary approvals, not only for those which are planning related, but also for the legal process for the transfer to take effect.
4. The photographs in these particulars are from archive material so the present appearance of the interior and exterior of the building may be different in certain respects. In particular, the font, pulpit, pews and other fitments may, under the Bishop's directions, be removed prior to completion.
5. The Planning Officer dealing with this case at the District Council is Kanchan Sharma [use Contact Agent Button] .
6. The Conservation Officer at Fenland D. C. is Mr S Falco E-mail: [use Contact Agent Button]  Mob:[use Contact Agent Button]
7. PDFs of the Architects' drawings are available from the Selling Agents on request.
GENERAL REPAIR ESTIMATES
The Vendors have obtained estimates from reputable experienced contractors for:-
[A] the general essential repair of the masonry, excluding stonework, and external roof cladding (circa £35,000) and
[B] the replacement of the gutters and rainwater goods (circa £10,000).
Further details are available on request.

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PLEASE NOTE: The areas of land edged green and yellow on the plan have a valid planning consent, issued by Fenland District Council, for the building of a terrace of 5 dwellings. The application references are F/YR09/0489/O and F/YR12/0728/RM and are available to view on Fenland District Council's website. A certificate of lawful development has been obtained following commencement of construction.
Although these areas are not included in the sale of the Church, consideration may be given to their sale as a separate simultaneous transaction, subject to conditions, one of which will preclude the occupation of any of the five new dwellings prior to the satisfactory completion of the conversion of the Church to the approved new use.
The Agents for themselves and for the owner of this property hereby give notice that: (1) These particulars do not in any way constitute an offer or a contract; (2) Any intending purchasers/tenants must not rely on the statements made in these particulars as representations of fact, but must satisfy themselves by inspection or otherwise as to their correctness as they are made without acceptance of any responsibility on the part of the Agents or the owner; (3) No representation whatever in relation to this property is made or given by the Agents or the owner, nor has any person in their employment any authority to make or give any such representation or warranty.