All Souls Church, Bolton aims to remove standstones

All Souls Church, on Astley Street in Halliwell, is ranked as a Grade II listed building and can trace its history back to the 1880s.

But the Churches Conservation Trust have now applied to Bolton Council to remove the sandstone paving at the north side of the building.

A statement said: “Thefts began in recent years and are ongoing, with further stones stolen from the site in April 2024.

“The CCT have implemented several measures to protect the church and site including building surveillance and out of hours security provision.

The paving stones that the church aims to remove (Image: Churches Conservation Trust)

“In addition to this, the building is open to the public during the week and available for use on weekends.

“In response to the ongoing theft, the CCT ensures affected areas are made safe by carrying out temporary repairs to infill the voids.”

All Souls was taken into the care of the Churches Conservation Trust in 1987 and since then has been used a community centre and conference space with a café and office space. 

The trust now owns and operates the site as a community asset after a major conservations and rebuilding project around 10 years ago. 

With stones have been stolen in April this year, after a series of thefts in recent years, the trust has been carrying out temporary repairs.

This comes after similar cases around the country that have involved paving stones being stolen from churches. 

But the trust says that this temporary solution is intended to provide a “duty of care to the public” and is not in-keeping with the rest of the historic site.

They have then decided that removing the stones is the “most appropriate solution.”

As part of the plans put before Bolton Council on Monday July 1 this year, the trust has proposed lifting the remaining stones and to grass the affected area.

This, they say, would be in keeping with the surrounding and wider site landscaping.

All Souls Church on Astley Street, Halliwell (Image: Google Maps)

The statement said: “It is proposed to remove the paving from All Souls, which will either be re-used at another CCT site or will be salvaged for re-sale.

“Care will be taken to ensure that the grass becomes fully established in the area.

“The existing gulleys shown on the supporting photographs will be retained with grass carefully laid around their perimeter.

“It is anticipated that they will become partially redundant due to grass being a more permeable ground covering.

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“Notwithstanding this, the CCT delivers a regular maintenance programme which ensures that the existing grass and landscaping is suitably maintained.

“The new grassed area will be included in this.”

The Church’s Conservation Trust says that the plan will not affect any of the paving on the way into the site directly into the church at the main entrance at the west end.

Instead, it is restricted just to the sandstone path.

Bolton Council will aim to decide whether to approve the plan by Monday August 26.