After 159 years of worship the church which has just ten in the congregation is up for sale
manchestereveningnews.co.ukIt is a heaven sent opportunity for a sensitive developer. Built in a Gothic Revival style and designed by the architect who created Manchester Town Hall it is passed by thousands of drivers every day.
The United Reformed Church, Besses o' th' Barn, is a Grade II listed building which is at the point where Bury New Road and Bury Old Road meet at Whitefield.
The foundation stone was laid in 1864. Construction, which cost £4,500 was completed in 1865 and it opened originally as Besses Congregational Church before changing its name when congregationalists and the Presbyterian Church of England merged in the 1970s.
When opened it had a chapel big enough to accomodate more than 800 plus a vestry and a schoolroom. But as the congregation has dwindled over the decades the building, designed by Alfred Waterhouse, has now like many churches across the country gone up for sale.
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