Beautiful former Victorian church up for auction
A former Methodist church with a history dating back to Victorian times is appearing in Bond Wolfe’s next auction, almost a year to the day after it last hosted a service.
The Central Methodist Church in Aldergate, Tamworth has an impressive, gothic-style frontage and has a guide price of more than £150,000 in the livestreamed auction on May 18.
Ian Tudor, commercial auction director at Bond Wolfe, explained that the church was built back in 1886 after a split that divided Tamworth’s Methodists in the mid-19th century.
Mr Tudor said that research by local historian Patrick Comerford has found 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”.
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 on May 22, 2022.
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."
