I've been knocking around old buildings for a while now, but this is the first time that I've tried writing up a report like this. If there's anything I should be doing differently, let me know. Anyway, the Church of the Protestant Martyrs:
Even in a state like this, it's still a handsome building. They gave it Grade II listing to stop it being knocked down for student housing and I think there are plans to turn it into a community centre or something, but I'm not really sure how far along that is. Fun as it was to explore, it would be nice to see it having a second lease of life. I wouldn't be surprised if some of you have already been through, I've seen lights in there late at night before.
It's not too hard to get into. I bought a big length of carpet thinking it'd be good for the spiked fence and ended up barely needing it - there's a moral there about "lugging the rug". The first floor staircase is rotted through, so sadly I couldn't see any way to get up into the dome, but the basement, the nave and the back rooms are all accessible:
What struck me about the place was how much had been left in there - not just furniture, but toys, old records, crockery, stuff that you wouldn't think would be too hard to clear out, maybe even sell off. You'd think a church would jump at the chance to have a jumble sale. I don't know exactly why the church was abandoned, but it's as if they just gave up on the place. I'll leave it all below for you to sift through. The Welsh hymnbook and the obviously haunted painting have both stuck with me, but it's the safe that I found most fascinating - the handle's rusted shut, and you'd need far more powerful tools than anything I had on me to get it open, so God knows what might still be in there.
That thing with the balls in it, my best guess is that it's a bingo machine but I really don't know. If you've any better ideas I'd love to hear them.
One last thing, I don't know if it's worth mentioning, but it looked like somebody's been using the basement as a place to sleep - I don't blame them, it's been awful how many people have been out on the streets this winter. I didn't run into anybody, but something to bear in mind if you're thinking of going through yourself.
Even in a state like this, it's still a handsome building. They gave it Grade II listing to stop it being knocked down for student housing and I think there are plans to turn it into a community centre or something, but I'm not really sure how far along that is. Fun as it was to explore, it would be nice to see it having a second lease of life. I wouldn't be surprised if some of you have already been through, I've seen lights in there late at night before.
It's not too hard to get into. I bought a big length of carpet thinking it'd be good for the spiked fence and ended up barely needing it - there's a moral there about "lugging the rug". The first floor staircase is rotted through, so sadly I couldn't see any way to get up into the dome, but the basement, the nave and the back rooms are all accessible:
What struck me about the place was how much had been left in there - not just furniture, but toys, old records, crockery, stuff that you wouldn't think would be too hard to clear out, maybe even sell off. You'd think a church would jump at the chance to have a jumble sale. I don't know exactly why the church was abandoned, but it's as if they just gave up on the place. I'll leave it all below for you to sift through. The Welsh hymnbook and the obviously haunted painting have both stuck with me, but it's the safe that I found most fascinating - the handle's rusted shut, and you'd need far more powerful tools than anything I had on me to get it open, so God knows what might still be in there.
That thing with the balls in it, my best guess is that it's a bingo machine but I really don't know. If you've any better ideas I'd love to hear them.
One last thing, I don't know if it's worth mentioning, but it looked like somebody's been using the basement as a place to sleep - I don't blame them, it's been awful how many people have been out on the streets this winter. I didn't run into anybody, but something to bear in mind if you're thinking of going through yourself.
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