A HISTORIC Kendal church is set to be converted into a family home.

The site on Highgate in Kendal has been occupied by the United Reformed Church and its predecessors since the 1890s.

It is in a centrally located site and has always been popularly know locally as the ‘Zion Chapel,

However, church elders decided some time to address the issue of the very large building, which was expensive to maintain and now housed a congregation of around 60, and the decision was made to put the building up for sale.

And now, after an offer was received and accepted, planning permission has been submitted to South Lakeland District Council for the conversion of the facility to a family home.

The church building first opened its doors in 1898 and was originally designed to sit more than 600 worshippers.

The chapel was built in a yard with other buildings which predated the chapel, and these were purchased by the church elders at the same time as the yard.

But as the decades passed and the numbers attending the church began to fall, members have been seriously consider their future on the site.

The elders of the church, who were also trustees of the building, discussed the issue in spring 2014 and decided to put the building, the more recently built hall behind it and the adjacent land up for sale.

During consultations, plans for a restaurant or a social housing complex were considered but these plans later fell through and were discontinued .

However, following the acceptance of the recent offer, the trustees have indicated they will support the planning application as they believe the integrity of the site will be preserved.

“The Trustees and the congregation are delighted to receive the offer to purchase from Dr Kay Sanderson,” said the trustees in a communication to SLDC.

“They consider this to be a most suitable option and are delighted that the church building will experience relatively little alteration.

“They are viewed by us as very suitable neighbours who appreciate the beauty of the structure.

“We fully support this application and would ask the council to take note of the significant effort made by all parties to achieve a sale.”