Going, Going, Gone, Former Methodist Church In Woodbridge Road Is No More

Published on: 22 Mar, 2016
Updated on: 26 Mar, 2016

Guildford Methodist Church’s former building in Woodbridge Road is no more.

The site in Woodbridge Road where the Methodist church once stood.

Demolition has been taking place for the past few weeks and nothing now remains (March 22) except for rubble.

How the front of the church looked last week.

Work was well under way at the beginning of last week  and these pictures show the long-reach excatator, commonly known as a ‘nibbler’ at work.

The ‘nibbler’ at work. Demolition began at the rear of the church building.

Water was sprayed on the sections of the building being demolished to reduce dust.

Another part of the structure comes crashing down.

The demolition was undertaken by the Europlant Group.

Following an appeal by developers Shanley Homes after a previous refusal, on February 16 permission was granted by the planning inspectorate for the building of a part three-storey, part four-storey building comprising 25 one- and two-bedroom flats with basement car park on the site of the former church.

Guildford Borough Council had objected to the lack of suitable provision of affordable housing as part of the redevelopment scheme.

See our story when plans were first lodged by the developers in 2014.

The building has stood empty since 2013 and in May last year there was a small fire, believed at the time to have been accidentally started.

Guildford Methodist Church is now in a partnership with the Anglican church of St Mary’s in Quarry Street.

On its website it states: “We worship and work together to show Christ’s love to the people of Guildford. Our partnership started in 2013 so we’re still in the early stages but growing closer together all the time. We regularly share worship with Guildford Salvation Army and St Mary’s also hosts services for Russian Orthodox and Roman Catholic worshippers and Emmaus Road.

“We are part of the Guildford Methodist Circuit, enabling us to draw on the resources of the circuit and to continue working with other Methodist churches in the area.”

It adds that there has been a Methodist church in Guildford town centre since about 1854. The Woodbridge Road church was opened in March 1966.

And the Methodists says: “However, over the following decades a combination of falling membership, looming building costs and the failure of the predicted development of the area compelled a reassessment of the role of the church in Woodbridge Road. It was finally concluded that Methodism would be better served by the congregation returning to the town centre and sharing the ancient St Mary’s Church in Quarry Street with its Anglican congregation. The Woodbridge Road church closed in September 2013 and was sold for redevelopment.”

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