Whaplode Cemetery's chapel of rest to be bulldozed 'imminently'

The end is near for Whaplode Cemetery's chapel of rest after plans to demolish it and create extra burial space were given the go-ahead.

Whaplode Parish Council confirmed that demolition of the chapel, built in 1893, would take place "imminently" after an environmental licence was granted by government body Natural England.

Planning permission has been granted for materials from the building to be used to create a home which will replicate the architecture of the chapel.

Opposition to the chapel's removal, to be replaced by a memorial garden, was led by villager John Welch (74) whose late brother Alec was a parish councillor in Whaplode for 25 years before passing away in October 2010.

Mr Welch said: "They were going to knock it down a long while ago when my brother was on the council and he managed to save it.

"I may be an old sentimentalist but it just seems a shame for it to have been there all these years and then knock it down.

"I can't see the harm it's doing and why the chapel shouldn't be preserved when they are preserving the ones in Holbeach and Spalding.

"The parish council spent money on having the roof repaired so I think it should be repaired."

Another opponent of the demolition project is Spalding-based funeral director Mark Forth who launched a Friends of Whaplode Cemetery group on social media website Facebook in June to try and save the chapel.

Mr Forth said: "A demolition notice has been put up on the fence at the cemetery by South Holland District Council, but I'm still hoping that the demolition will be stopped.

"It just seems a shame that the chapel is going to be pulled down at a time when buildings like that are coming back into use.

"The chapel of rest in Spalding is being brought back into use and a lot of other chapels around the country are being used for graveside funerals.

"Not everybody wants to go to church for funerals and, also, the chapel is part of Whaplode Cemetery itself.

"A lot of my family are buried there and they were all village people who would say that the chapel shouldn't be coming down.

Parish councillors asked villagers for their views on the chapel's future in 2016 when they learned that repairing it after years of decline and vandalism would cost more than £20,000.

The demolition work itself is set to be done by Whaplode motorcycle dealer David Tointon who plans to building materials from the chapel to create a home.

This new home will replicate the architecture of the chapel and has been granted planning permission.

Mr Tointon said: "We think it'll be an interesting building project, with the benefit of saving materials from the chapel itself.

"So it's a win-win situation for everybody."

Whaplode ward parish councillor Richard Barlow said: "The council has undertaken all the necessary bat surveys and we've now got the licence which we've been waiting for.

"Demolition of the chapel is happening imminently and we're planning to put a memorial garden in its place where people can sit and contemplate.

"The council is sorry to have to take the chapel down, but with a repair bill of over £20,000, there wouldn't have been enough demand in the village for us to do it when the bill would fall on council tax payers."