Boone's Chapel is one of only two Grade I-Listed buildings in Lewisham, but has been standing derelict for the past 63 years. DAN KEEL finds out about a renovation project to put the 17th-century structure back into use.
SINCE 1945, Boone's Chapel's only use has been to accommodate grime, graffiti and flyposters.
But thanks to a local building trust, it may now have a more productive future.
The Blackheath Historic Buildings Trust, lead by chairman Ian Mills, plans to bring the chapel in Lee High Road back into use in September this year.
This will mean English Heritage can take it off its Buildings at Risk list.
The £500,000 project will transform the chapel into an architect's studio for a local firm and will also double-up as a public exhibition centre for 30 days of the year.
This will be a welcome return for the chapel, which was used for worship by Lewisham residents from when building work was completed in 1682 until 1877, when Emmanuel Pentecostal Church was built in the same road.
From then until 1945 it was used as a reading room.
But with a lack of funds for repairs during the Second World War, the building was abandoned and has stood derelict ever since.
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| Building work has begun on the chapel |
Mr Mills said: "It is thought Sir Christopher Wren was commissioned to build the chapel, but the work was probably designed and carried out by Wren's assistant, Robert Hooke, who had helped with other Wren structures in the past.
"Hooke is best known for assisting Wren in the rebuilding of the City
of London after the Great Fire and in helping design Greenwich's Royal Observatory."
The chapel was paid for by wealthy London wool merchant and philanthropist Christopher Boone.
He died in 1686 at the age of 71 while his wife, Mary, died in 1721.
The couple were buried in a secret vault under the chapel but their coffins were discovered by structural engineers in June 2006 when building work on the project began.
Mr Mills said: "The two coffins have been left where they have been found. One had largely disintegrated but contained a plaque dedicated to Christopher Boone.
"The other, containing Mary's remains, is still in remarkably good condition with its leather binds held in place by brass studs."
Boone's Chapel will be reopened by the Mayor of Lewisham, Sir Steve Bullock, on September 18, signalling the start of a four-day exhibition.
The project is being funded by £262,500 from the Heritage Lottery Fund, £65,000 from English Heritage, £20,000 from Lewisham Council and £24,000 from trade association Merchant Taylors.
Research Design, the architect firm which will use the chapel from September, contributed with £125,000, while residents have chipped in with the rest.
Mr Mills is keen to hear from anyone with memories of the building.
If you want to share your memories, email him at ianmills@mysector.co.uk or call 020 8852 2457.
The borough's other Grade I-listed building is St Paul's Church in Diamond Way, Deptford.
10:43am Tuesday 1st April 2008
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