Solar Panels and CCTV Cameras Planned for Former Church

Plans to install solar panels and CCTV cameras at a former church described as “an important piece of Gourock’s heritage” have been revealed.

Inverclyde Council has been asked to give the green light to the proposals for the former St Bartholomew’s Church building on Barrhill Road.

The B-listed building, a much-loved local landmark, was put up for sale in December 2022, five months after hosting its last church service, with dwindling numbers of members and a lack of funds blamed for the decision to close it down after 160 years.

The building was sold two months later after what estate agents Bowman Rebecchi, who are also acting as agents for the new application, described as “unprecedented interest”, with more than 200 enquiries made and more than 110 potential buyers looking around the property.

The new proposals also include an application for listed building consent.

Planners from the local authority approved an application in March to convert the building into a dwelling house with dining and lounge areas, a bedroom, a sitting room, guest/public rooms and an office, as well as a new mezzanine level, a glazed extension and a terrace.

Designed originally by J.C. Sharp of Gourock in 1867 and extended by H.D. Walton in around1895, the church building’s features include a chancel extension enhanced by a beautiful window depicting the Ascension, designed by George Walton.

This article appeared in The Greenock Telegraph.