Now, St Margaret’s Church in St Benedicts Street could be set for a similar fate, with plans to update the space into an art gallery and piano bar in the works.
The church has previously been used as a gym, an exhibition space, an antiques centre and a cafe since it became redundant in 1973.
A planning application submitted to Norwich City Council by John Taylor earlier this month outlines the plans to adapt the church into an “art gallery combined with a bar area”.
He said: “The church has been used in the recent past as an art exhibition space and the plan is to retain this function but to complement this with a bar and piano.
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“This gives the gallery an opportunity to be commercially viable, while also returning a ‘piano bar’ style venue to St Benedicts – something it hasn’t had since the closure of Platform 12 just prior to the Covid closures.”
The piano bar closed more than four years ago, having been popular in the heart of the city for six years.
This will also involve adding two toilet cubicles into the church tower, located up a spiral staircase.
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A viewing platform will be built along the north wall of the nave – the main central area of St Margaret’s Church – and the heating and lighting for the space will come from three large chandeliers hung throughout the building.
The grade I listed church recently underwent a huge restoration.
It cost the Norwich Historic Churches Trust (NHCT) nearly £800,000 and should keep the church standing for hundreds more years.
At the time of the repairs, a spokesman for the NHCT said that they hoped the church would remain an important part of Norwich’s arts and cultural scene.
The city council hopes to decide the application’s outcome by July 2.
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