A major initiative to buy and restore a historic but derelict 18th-century chapel in Malmesbury that has become a “disgraceful” eyesore is being launched today.

Plans are under way to raise around £50,000 locally towards the £400,000 project that will put the town’s Moravian Church – which was vacated 20 years ago – back into use.

The Friends of Athelstan Museum (FOAM) has applied to the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) for a grant to bring the 245-year-old Grade II-listed building back to life.

It hopes the HLF will provide around £300,000, leaving £100,000 outstanding. FOAM is seeking cash pledges for £50,000, with a matching amount being acquired under a mechanism that funds work by volunteers.

Joint project leader Roger Griffin said: “It’s quite a complex process but if we can acquire the pledges then we feel we have a very good chance of gaining Heritage Lottery funding.

“At the same time we would be making good use of a site that has become a disgrace. Not only will the project remove a longstanding eyesore but will give Malmesbury an extra facility. It’s a win-win situation.”

Built in 1770, the chapel was used for more than 200 years before the congregation left during the mid-1990s. It was later bought by art collector Frank Faryab but remained empty and was repossessed in 2013 after he ran into financial problems.

The Athelstan Museum, which is across the road from the church, believes the premises would make an ideal extension, enabling it hold exhibitions, meetings and other functions there.

Other groups and organisations in Malmesbury would also be able to use the premises once it is repaired.

Mr Griffin said: “The HLF seem sympathetic to our cause – they helped us set up the museum and were impressed with how that went.”

FOAM is putting together a business plan and will need around £50,000 in place by August before the HLF makes a decision.

Mr Griffin said: “We are not initially asking for money but a promise that if HLF award us a grant, people will then pay what they have committed to.”

For details, see www.athel stanmuseum.org.uk and the appeal website www.malmes buryappeal.co.uk

MORAVIAN MOVEMENT

  • Founded in Bohemia and Moravia in 1457, the Moravian movement is the oldest free church in northern Europe. 
  • In 1742 John Cennick started a religious society in Malmesbury and three years later invited the Moravian Brethren to take charge of the congregation. 
  •  He launched other societies in Wiltshire but these faded after his death in 1755 and only the Malmesbury group continued. 
  •  A chapel was built in 1770 and a schoolroom added in 1860. The congregation left its chapel in the mid-1990s but continue to hold services in the old schoolroom, now the church hall, which they share with the Society of Friends.