Houses of Worship? Homes in Former Churches

House of prayer: A converted church in London's Kensal Green.

“See, a church can serve a useful purpose.”

That was one of the more amusing online comments about a Northumberland church-to-home renovation in Kyloe, photos of which splashed into my inbox the other day. Thinking to feature them on AngloFiles, I looked the place up online and found it had appeared on blogs all over the web. Without photo rights, apparently. (See item 2.1 on the originator’s “terms and conditions” page)

Yes, all those nice bloggers seem to have stolen the Kyloe photos. (One even described them as “found on” All About You, which seems quaint, unless you’ve heard of “copyright.”) I am a sucker for sure, but won’t lift the pics, so you’ll have to click above to see them, if you haven’t already. But come right back!

Oh, here you are again. What did you think? Grand? Too cold? Cheesey furnishings? I wouldn’t mind the steamy claw-foot bath under the stained glass window. (But I wouldn’t mind any steamy bath — it’s pouring here, today!) In fact, the funniest read of my week was a string of comments on the Kyloe post at Reddit, the blog-review site. Maybe it was late, but Reddit’s punchy posters veered right quick from homey house talk to a rambling discussion touching on zombies, sex and The Simpsons, as well as some really “sinful” puns on church nomenclature. It’s a must-read.

When you’ve stopped laughing, tour with me these other “houses of God” dotted around England, including a disused church with renovation potential. (All images are 100-percent kosher, with permissions and/or licenses.) Because I hope you’re as addicted to nosy house-hunting as I am, I’ve even created a whole new AngloFiles category for us, “House Porn.”

We’ll start in Kent, courtesy of the awesome site, Geograph, where local chronicler Nick Smith cites as evidence of domsticity this Dargate church building’s aerial and window curtains.

The “cover” photo (at top) was taken in this sexy London home, which also moonlights as a set for film, TV and photography, not surprisingly.

I like the cozy chaise longue at the foot of the twin bed — warming up what might otherwise be a cold, cavernous chamber. (Thanks to Light Locations for permission to use the snaps!)

This onetime Methodist chapel sits in sleepy and quaintly named Praze-an-Beeble, Cornwall, where the local pub serves food “most days,” if Wikipedia can be trusted on that.

That beachy blue facade, puts a bright face on the more somber structure seen behind, in this photo by Tony Atkin. Would John Wesley have approved, though? He visited Cornwall often to evangelize in the mid-1700s, and his Methodists gained a solid foothold there. That they are decommissioning their churches is more a sign of population decline overall in small towns, rather than in the pews alone.

For those praying for their own houses of worship to renovate, some legal advice might come in handy. And here’s a reasonable prospect, perhaps — another former Methodist church, this one in the Sussex town of Worthing.

Opened in 1929 and is now disused, according to photographer Matt Davis. I’d put a little patio table and shade trees behind the brick wall, for starters. But what would you do with the two nooky little annexes in front?