Cornish church goes on sale for knockdown price due to risk of collapse
A historic Methodist chapel in Cornwall has gone on sale for a bargain price of £50,000 but there is good reason why it is so cheap.
Just two years ago, the 19th century building was on the market for £175,000 but that was before a mining survey found that the ground it stands on was full of holes.Kenneggy Methodist church is in an idyllic spot on Kenneggy Downs near Rosudgeon but has been built on a number of underground mining features that bring with them the risk of a “catastrophic collapse”.
The area is full of mine shafts following the heyday of the industry in the mid-19th century.
In 2019, engineers from Cornwall Consultants Ltd drilled bore holes in the ground around the chapel site and discovered what seem to be exploratory mine shafts and workings - some of which have been loosely filled.
The mining report summarises: "In the short term, it is recommended that the area of ground over and surrounding the features be made inaccessible to persons and animals...
"All mining features present a risk of catastrophic collapse and can only be considered secure if capped with concrete."
With the historic building now on offer for less than third of its original guide price, it is hoped that someone with a structural plan and a little imagination will take a leap of faith, and make it their home.
Whoever does take it on will also acquire a rather impressive pipe organ, though it - as well as the chapel's not so firm foundations - looks like it needs a bit of work before it will play again.
Kenneggy Methodist church is on the market with Lodge & Thomas and goes up for auction at Truro Sale Room on Friday 21 May 2021 at 2pm.
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