By John Wimperis, local democracy reporter: People living in a village near Bath say they are planning to launch a challenge against the decision to demolish its unique church.
Bath and North East Somerset Council granted planning permission in June for the brutalist Church of the Good Shepherd in Northend in Batheaston to be knocked down and replaced with four houses. Built in 1967 and in use until 2020, the small catholic church is a rare example of brutalist architecture in the Bath area.
The building may be loved and hated in equal measure — but the plan to demolish it has met with overwhelming opposition. Now people in Northend say they are investigating how to challenge the decision.
Village local Caroline Spicer said: “The decision seems to have been rushed through to favour national housing targets over local needs and protections.” 120 people had lodged objections to the plans, with just one person voicing their support.
Batheaston Parish Council also objected while the council’s own conservation officer had the church locally listed as a heritage asset. Bathavon North councillor Sarah Warren (Liberal Democrat) had called the plans in to the council’s planning committee — but instead the decision to permit the demolition was made by the council’s planning officers without a vote being cast.
Local man Nick Cooper said: “The planning department seems to have completely ignored the views not only of local people living in this village, but also of the council’s own conservation officer. What is the point of us all paying for an expensive official like the conservation officer if their input counts for nothing?”
Not everyone in the village is attached to the church. While its bold design has been seen by some as an “important historical statement,” others see it as an “eyesore” and “the village joke.” But even people prepared to see it knocked down had raised concerns at the housing planned in its place.
Ms Spicer added: “Residents said they would gladly accept plans for smaller affordable housing or continued use as a community facility, in keeping with the character of the conservation area. Instead three large 4-bedroomed houses and one slightly smaller house have been approved which few people in this village will be able to afford.”
Michael Birkett-Jones added: “Batheaston is a village of charming roofscapes, unexpected views and ancient groupings of buildings, that have evolved over centuries out of the natural topography of the Avon Valley. Monks used to walk this route 600 years ago going from St Catherine’s Monastery to Bath Abbey. The site is part of the Batheaston Conservation Area and the Cotswolds Area of Outstanding National Beauty.
“We’re not against housing per se. But any new development must be sympathetic to this unique setting. But the scheme that’s been passed seems oblivious to residents’ concerns. Its footprint will extend beyond the existing Church – taking a reference high-point close to the line [of] the (soon to be demolished) Church of the Good Shepherd ’spire’.
“This will significantly change the views across the valley for those who live here and for the many walkers and visitors who walk along the Batch and who approach Batheaston from Bathford.”
The plans for the homes to replace the church have been repeatedly revised to be less tall, but the council’s conservation officers warned they still failed “to respond to the local vernacular.”
The Catholic church was designed by Bath architect Martin Fisher — who was also behind the design of St Peter and Paul’s in Combe Down — and consists of poured concrete blocks. It does not have a traditional spire, but instead its square roof slopes up to the south east corner, reflecting the tent of a travelling pilgrim.
Rather than stained glass, it uses blocks of a material called “Kalwall,” which look almost concrete-like from outside. Their coloured pattern can be seen from the inside as the light shines in through the window but is only revealed to people outside when the church is lit up from within.
Emblematic of the changing face of the Catholic Church, the Church of the Good Shepherd was the first church in the area built after the major changes of Vatican II and adopted the now iconic brutalist style of the times. Three years later, similar ideas would lead to the construction of Clifton Cathedral in nearby Bristol, a building which was Grade II* listed in 2000.
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