9:20am Friday 12th March 2010
A HERITAGE centre could be opened at a historic church if plans are approved.
The Rev Diane Ricketts wants to convert the priest house at St Nicholas Church, Laindon, into a visitor centre to show children its history as a former Victorian school.
She has submitted a planning application to Basildon Council to put a storage container in the grounds of the listed church- yard.
The priest house currently stores church equipment which is used for special occasions, preventing it from being converted into the heritage centre.
Ms Ricketts said: “Storage of church equipment will enable us to convert the priest house into a heritage centre, mainly depicting how it was when it was a Victorian school.
“There are at least seven schools in Laindon and they all visit the church for a combination of church activities and history.
“It is the history of the old school which catches their attention. It is also now included in the Basildon Heritage Trail.”
The church plans to camouflage the storage container by planting evergreen shrubs around it and building a roof garden.
The container will also house tools for maintenance of the churchyard.
Equipment such as petrol mowers, trimmers, forks, spades and a wheelbarrow is currently stored in garages around Laindon, making it harder for them to be used at the church. A Saturday morning working party has been improving the area around the church, which plans to apply for Essex’s Best Kept Churchyard Award once the ground has been improved.
Ms Ricketts is also appealing for donations to help fund the heritage centre and repairs to the roof of the church which is falling down. For more information or to make a donation, call Ms Ricketts on 01268 411190, or send an e-mail to revd_diane_ricketts@hotmail.com To find out more about the church, visit stnicholaslaindon .co.uk
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