Victorian church with fascinating history in Tamworth up for auction

The Central Methodist Church in Aldergate, Tamworth has an impressive, gothic-style frontage and will come with a guide price of £150,000+ at the livestreamed auction on Thursday, May 18.

Ian Tudor, commercial auction director at Bond Wolfe, said the church was built back in 1886 after a split that divided Tamworth’s Methodists in the mid-19th century.

Mr Tudor pointed to research by local historian Patrick Comerford which describes how a splinter group first called the Wesleyan Reformers and later the Free Methodists had been meeting in a room in Aldergate known as “The Hut”.

But a fast-growing congregation saw the group buying a nearby plot of land for £250, then building the church for £2,250 before opening it for worship on September 29, 1886.

The church went on to house tens of thousands of worshippers and scores of community groups for meetings and activities for the next 136 years, before closing after its last service in May last year.

The remaining congregation from the church has now moved to New Life Methodist Church in the Leyfields part of Tamworth.

Mr Tudor said: “This former church has a fascinating history and with its striking appearance it has been an important focal point for Tamworth for more than 130 years.

“What we now have is a freehold property that is considered suitable for a wide variety of alternative uses, subject to planning permission.

“The front of the building was originally single storey, however a mezzanine floor was added in the 1970s resulting in two storeys, while at the rear is the original two-storey section that was previously used as school rooms.

“Currently the accommodation has a lobby, a vestry, a lower school room, a meeting room, two kitchens and toilets on the ground floor, and a landing, the main worship room and upper school room on the first floor.

“The building is located on the western side of the B5493 road known as Aldergate, between St John's Street and Lichfield Street, a mixed residential and commercial part of Tamworth town centre.”

The Central Methodist Church is one of 184 lots appearing in Bond Wolfe’s next auction which is due to start at 9am on May 18. For more details and to register to bid visit bondwolfe.com/property-auctions-west-midlands