A DILAPIDATED old chapel looks set to be given a makeover as councillors in Stratton give their full support to a restoration bid.

The chapel, situated in Green Road Cemetery in Upper Stratton, is in dire need of some tender loving care, and at a Stratton St. Margaret Parish Council meeting on Tuesday night, councillors overwhelmingly backed a bid to restore it to its former glory.

The renovation work is the pet project of Coun Matthew Davis, who has had his eye on restoring the chapel for some time.

Coun Davis said: “I don’t think Stratton St. Margaret should leave a little piece of our heritage to rot. It is looking dilapidated and only fit for what it is currently being used for, which is to store tools.”

The next stage of the project is to purchase the services of a surveyor so councillors will get some idea of how much it will cost to repair.

Coun Carol Ennis wholeheartedly backed the project. She said: “I am very passionate about this. I don’t think Stratton St. Margaret trumpets what it has, and for that reason I support Matthew 110 per cent.”

She even suggested asking the parishioners to lend their building expertise to help reduce costs and as a way of involving the wider community.

The chapel, which only measures 17ft 4ins by 15ft 4ins, was built by non-conformists in 1869 and was transferred to the parish council at the beginning of the century.

There have since been many attempts at renovating it, but none has materialised.

Matthew has suggested it could be used for weddings, to host art exhibitions, for filming and photoshoots or used as a place of worship.

Coun Stuart Leach said: “The chapel is in a state of disrepair and I would fully support Matthew’s attempts to get a surveyor in to give us some idea of how much money we would need to bring it back to life.”

Councillors are also in the process of checking who owns the chapel, but it’s thought more than likely to belong to the parish council.