Perfect properties for spending a quiet life

5:34pm Thursday 20th November 2008

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FOR many people, living in a church surrounded by a Victorian graveyard would be the stuff of nightmares.

But chartered building surveyor Anthony Crosby and his friend, Peter Coverdale, have snapped up two Gothicstyle chapels in a cemetery, and plan to convert them into comfortable homes.

The pair hope to spend the next six months working on the properties in Benfieldside Cemetery, in Blackhill, near Consett.

Mr Crosby, 45, from Fulwell, Sunderland, has not yet decided whether to live in one of them himself with his wife, Sharon, and eight-yearold son Gabriel.

The sandstone structures, built in 1876, have decorative traceries, bell towers and are surrounded by headstones from the late 19th Century.

Mr Crosby said: “The burial services would have gone on in here. It is something a bit different.

“At the minute, I live in a cul-de-sac and when you leave there are cars parked outside. Well, here there are gravestones.

“I don’t think we will have much disruption from the neighbours – it will be nice and quiet. It will be the best place to be for Halloween.”

Two years ago, Mr Crosby won a conservation award with the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors for his work on the Niche Hotel in Grey Street, Newcastle.

He added: “I do this sort of thing as a job and the best part about it is bringing them back into use. We are saving two buildings, which are grade II-listed buildings.

“They are important historically and architecturally.”

Jessica Taylor, a planning officer at Derwentside District Council, which has received a planning application from Mr Crosby, will be looking at the impact on the area, as well as the implications for car parking and traffic.

Elaine Hogg, conservation officer for Durham County Council, will also be carrying out a study.

She said: “They are very prominent and very decorative and they have a huge positive impact on the character of the area.

“There are so many churches and chapels that have closed and if we want them to survive we have to find a use for them.

“They will make rather a an unusual residential property, but that might appeal in this climate, where so many buildings look the same.”