RESTORATION work on the Moravian Church in Malmesbury has been given the green light to get underway as the Friends of Athelstan Museum (FOAM) were granted planning permission by Wiltshire Council this week.

The church, which has been described as an ‘eyesore’ in the town for many years, will be transformed into a brand new space for the Athelstan Museum to hold exhibitions and functions.

The restoration project is expected to take about six months once FOAM have consulted with architect Jonathan Rixon who will put the final tweaks on the plans and discuss the work with the contractors.

Sharon Nolan, chairman of FOAM, said: “This is brilliant news, we are very excited.

“We’d like to thank the people of Malmesbury for supporting us and helping to make this such a wonderful feature and venue for the town.

“It will enable us to further thework of the museum in our educational and charitable objectives.

“It’s really a community venture as well as the museum so it’s going to preserve the history and fabric of the building and will be there for the town to use." 

FOAM acquired the Moravian Church in 2015 and since then the group has been overwhelmed by the support of local organisations joining in their fundraising campaign, which culminated with last month’s Eclipse commemoration of Walter Powell’s 1881 balloon flight in Cross Hayes car park.

They have also received a £100,000 grant from the European Union and are keen to continue fundraising efforts to help kit out the building with necessary equipment.

Former chair of FOAM Roger Griffin said: “I’d like to thank all the people who have been involved in fundraising, we’ve had so much help and support from the community, from the Masons, the old corporation, the rotary club and generous amounts of money from various other groups and individuals, it’s been so wonderful.

“We’ve got to go back to the people who quoted for the work and get them to refine their quotes, then the real work starts.”