EXCITING NEWS!

We’re excited to announce that we are the new owners of the former Penryn Methodist Church and School Room in Penryn town centre.

We are transforming the buildings into a major new creative space for Penryn and the wider region, with art exhibitions and creative activities coming together in a place where people will feel welcome, valued and inspired. The project has gained fantastic local support, including from Penryn Town Council and many local individuals and organisations.

The project is being funded with a £494,000 investment from the Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Good Growth Culture and Heritage-led Regeneration and Skills programme, which is managed by Cornwall Council and funded by the UK Government though the UK Shared Prosperity Fund. The Architectural Heritage Fund (AHF), a registered charity promoting the conservation and sustainable re-use of historic buildings for the benefit of communities, has also awarded the project £37,000.

The story so far…

Since September 2021 we have been looking for larger premises to run our growing exhibition and community engagement programmes, as well as somewhere to deliver creative courses and provide much-needed artist studio and creative work space. We began using the school room in April 2022 to run our creative social groups and soon recognised the potential of these beautiful buildings. When we learned that they were being sold, we began developing our plans and applying for funding to take them on. Early support from the AHF enabled us to investigate the viability of our plans. The significant award from the Shared Prosperity Fund has turned the project into a reality.

Plans for the school room

We’re delighted to be working with the award-winning Dow Jones Architects . The School Room will be tackled first, with various parts of the building needing repairs and upgrades, including the roof and windows. It can then be re-purposed to provide a community art room and artist studios. The art room will support creativity for health and well-being and offer a range of courses, skills training and other opportunities for the benefit of local people. A range of individual and shared studios will provide much-needed work space for local artists and other creative practitioners.

We’ll be sensitively working with the Grade II listed building and the development will meet ambitious environmental standards. We will also be working to make the buildings more accessible in the short-term and fully accessible to wheelchair users in the long-term. We are currently developing the plans for the building and aim for the works to start in Spring 2024. If all goes according to plan, the school room will be completed in late 2024.

We are continuing to fundraise for the development work and for ‘meanwhile’ community uses to take place there.

Find out about how you can help us here.

Plans for the church

The vision is to convert the former church into an accessible, welcoming and high-quality contemporary art gallery showcasing work by local, national and international artists. Until then, a range of creative ‘meanwhile’ projects will take place there. Designs for the church are at an early stage, with further funding recently being awarded by the AHF to carry out a feasibility study on the building. More funding will then be sought to develop the plans and eventually carry out the conversion works. We’re ambitious about utilising high-quality architectural design to convert this beautiful listed building into a public art gallery and we’ll share our plans as they develop.

Find out more and get involved

Join our mailing list to be kept up to date with progress on this project and other news.

Take a look at our creative social groups, Meet & Make and Tea, Cake & Art, which we already run at the school room.

Find out how you can support this exciting project here.

Get in touch with us at info@grayswharf.co.uk if you have any questions.

About the funding

This project is part-funded by the UK Government through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund. Cornwall Council has been chosen by Government as a Lead Authority for the fund and is responsible for monitoring the progress of projects funded through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly. The UK Shared Prosperity Fund is a central pillar of the UK Government’s Levelling Up agenda and provides £2.6 billion of funding for local investment by March 2025. The Fund aims to improve pride in place and increase life chances across the UK by investing in communities and place, supporting local business, and people and skills.

This project has also received funding from the Architecture Heritage Fund (AHF). The AHF is a registered charity, working since 1976 to promote the conservation and sustainable re-use of historic buildings for the benefit of communities across the UK, particularly in economically disadvantaged areas. The AHF exists to help communities find enterprising ways to revitalise the old buildings they love. They help with advice, grants and loans. Their support acts as a catalyst for putting sustainable heritage at the heart of vibrant local economies. For over 40 years, they’ve been the leading social investor in creating new futures for historic buildings.