The URC was completed in 1735, and in its heyday was a thriving church at the centre of Rothwell society. As times have changed, so has church attendance, and this beautiful property became uneconomical and unsustainable.
In 2024 we purchased it with a view to converting it to our family home.

Timeline

9 Nov 1735

The Original Building

The church building was partially erected around three sides of the existing barn, then the barn demolished, the best stone sorted out for use, the rubble cleared away, then the new building completed with roof, interior plastering, cleaning and simple decoration applied, making the place both habitable and worthy, all in a period of about seventeen months. The church was opened and sermon (Psalm 122,. vv.4) preached by Rev. Matthias Maurice on 9th November 1735. The above drawing is our earliest picture of the church.

12 Jan 2026

North Northants Council want this to fall down

It seems that North Northants Council want this building to fall down. Once again they have rejected the planning application. Depite claiming that they want to work with us, we had no contact from them during the 8-week planning period. On the last working day before we appealled. They said "agree to an extension or we'll reject it". Needless to say, they rejected it, claiming "they need internal elevations showing the height of the walls forming the bedrooms", a request they have never made throughout this debacle.

THE CONVERSION

Nobody could claim this has been an easy process. With a council hell bent on being as obstinate and lazy as possible, and the utter waste of space that is Historic England only concerned with ensuring they justify their existence, it is a wonder that the URC is still standing at all.

PLAN THE PROJECT

We started with big plans to bring an unused building back into use. LIttle did we know that the council and Historic England would be so inept.
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PLANNING HOOPS

If you ever want to do something similar, make sure Historic England and
North Northants Council are not involved.
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BUILD THE DREAM

Having backed them into a corner where they could do nothing other than approve, they still seem hell bent on their vindictive and unprofessional approach.
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