FOR MOST PEOPLE the thought of a home converted from a church invariably provokes fears of celestial-sized heating bills and a scene from Dawn of the Dead. But for Maxine Gent and Paul Titterton, the conversion of their newly acquired 19th-century church is a heavenly prospect. By most people’s standards, the potential pitfalls of buying a Grade II listed church might have marked it out as a risky venture. Despite having no planning permission as yet, and a whole two-floor living space to create that retains the original features, Maxine and Paul are unfazed. This is the fulfilment of a dream that they have had for 20 years. “We instantly fell in love with it,” says Maxine. “It was like Sleeping Beauty’s castle, with ivy growing up the walls. We had to cut away bushes to get in, and when we did it felt just right. It had a serene and happy atmosphere.”

The former New Jerusalem Church is in the village of Snodland, midway between Rochester and Maidstone in Kent. It was built in 1882, financed by the family of Charles Townsend Hook, owner of a local paper mill, and it is not difficult to see why the couple have been so excited since they bought the church at auction for £185,000 after seeing it on a website. One of the many features that they are obliged to keep under the listing of the building is the Ten Commandments inscribed on the chancel wall, soon to become the kitchen.

The church, which was used by its previous owner, a businessman, to store furniture, was last a place of worship in 1988. About 30 Church of England churches are closed for worship each year and put up for sale: the Church Commissioners are obliged to produce money to support the Church’s ministry and selling redundant churches is a useful source of funding. The website www.cofe.anglican.org currently lists 11 churches for sale, including St Bartholomew’s in Layston, Hertfordshire, and Swingfield St Peter, near Canterbury. Nor are sales restricted to England: earlier this year the American Catholic Church in Boston put 80 churches on the market in order to fund more than $100 million (£58 million) in compensation to people sexually abused by priests.

If you ignore the ivy creeping through stained-glass windows and the pigeon droppings, the interior of the New Jerusalem Church simply looks deserted after Sunday matins. Carved wood banners proclaiming “Jesus is overall” jostle with decades-old brass memorial plates to the Hook family, and the pews seem to be waiting for worshippers. Under the building’s listing, the altar area, font, pulpit, windows and the magnificent turquoise and gilt organ, which still works, are just a few of the things that must stay. But Maxine and Paul, who are moving from a bungalow in Grays, Essex, regard those stipulations as a blessing.

“All the features are staying,” Maxine says. “We can’t touch the outside, but we wouldn’t want to as we love the details and the history. We would like to find out more about how it looked originally and put some of those things back.” Those include the altar cloth and the boxes of hymn books, dusted off and ready to go back on new bookshelves. It is not surprising that the couple are on such good terms with the local conservation officer.

An architect has been instructed to provide plans for the conversion and the couple are optimistic that, after obtaining planning consent, the work will be finished within a year. Paul owns an electrical company and has carried out work on a number of churches, so he is taking a hands-on approach. “It’s crying out to be converted into a residence,” he says.

“It’s a challenge and will take a lot of money, but we’re not going to spoil it for the sake of a few bob.”

Obtaining planning permission is not necessarily as tricky as it may appear: under the Government’s planning guidance note PPG15, a redundant church is still subject to the normal listed building controls, but “conversion to another use which preserves the most interesting elements, internal and external, is to be preferred to demolition”.

The challenge lies in the fact that the couple want to create a modern interior incorporating the very traditional features, which include some breathtakingly colourful windows. The couple plan to construct a mezzanine floor at the level of the wooden beamed roof with a lounge at the west end to catch the afternoon sun. The kitchen will be at the east end. This second floor will be connected to the ground floor by means of a glass staircase to make the most of the light. The beautifully tiled floors will be restored to their former glory. One concern may be how to heat the building effectively, but Paul is characteristically pragmatic. “It’s a good-sized area to convert,” he says. “It’s got nice thick walls and it isn’t damp. If the lounge is upstairs, that’s the area which needs most of the heat.”

The church already has underfloor heating and the same is planned for the upper floor.

The bedrooms will be built on the ground floor, where there will be less natural light. Paul adds that the temptation would be to construct a corridor where the present aisle lies, and insert three or four cell-shaped bedrooms. “One idea is to have a curved corridor,” he explains, “which will lead from a hallway from the main entrance under the tower.”

The tower is perhaps the most striking feature of the church. It rises above the entrance to the building, has mullioned lead windows and houses the original bell. “We could connect it to the door bell,” jokes Maxine. But it seems that not even that would upset the neighbours. “The locals are very pleased that someone is doing something with it,” she says .

For a real fairytale ending, it seems fitting that Paul and Maxine are toying with the idea of getting married in their new home — for which they would have to seek consent from their local council. But as Paul points out, that would have to be before they take the pews out. “It’s all right when you’ve got to buy your own church to get him up the aisle, isn’t it? ” Maxine adds. ()

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