A community space: past, present and future

For much of the church’s history it was the largest communal building in the Town. If a meeting, market or celebration was to be held, it was held here.

That sense of being at the heart of the everyday life of local people will be enhanced and developed through our plans.

The existing church building

We will create a space at the East End of the church (demarcated by new iron screens) for community meeting to provide:

• a new servery providing simple refreshments to visitors and users of the pastoral service offered by our team of trained “Listeners”
• an early evening wine bar
• a space for exhibitions
• a bookable space for meetings of various kinds
• a space for receptions and parties
• an attractive interval bar when the church is used for concerts

We will build upon the reputation that the church has as a venue for Concerts, ensuring that our rates remain accessible for local community groups who cannot afford some of the other facilities locally. All this will be enhanced by greatly improved lighting, heating, toilets and refreshments.

We will ensure that the church continues to be a venue for a wide variety of community gatherings from such local institutions as:

• local Primary and Secondary Schools
• Kingston Youth Arts Festival
• MIND
• The Primary Care Trust
• The University of the Third Age
• Civic occasions such as the Mayoral, Remembrance and Crown Court services

And the church will continue to support a worshipping community of Kingston people

The New Building

We have identified a number of users for the spaces we will create.

In the basement...

we will create a dedicated space for young people who currently have no space to call their own in the Town Centre, during the afternoon and evening.

In the morning the space will be bookable for community groups.

On the ground floor...

we will work with Kingston College who will run a social enterprise cafe staffed and run by people with disabilities who are studying catering, offering them front line experience of of working in the food industry and giving the site a hospitality hub at its heart.

The ground floor will also provide space for a Town Tourist Information Service.

On the first floor...

we will use the large meeting space for further heritage education, for use by local businesses for training, and for bookable spaces by a wide range of community groups.

There are also two smaller meeting spaces that will be used for health promotion and for a home to a new low cost counselling service.

The external realm

All Saints Churchyard marks the original footprint of the Saxon Royal enclosure and it was around this site that the Town has grown up over the last 1000 years. So it is at the geographic centre of the Town and should present visitors and residents alike with a vista to be proud of.  Sadly, it has been neglected for years.  The trees are randomly planted and unpruned.  The grass is badly worn and in places the ground is bare.  Seating is badly placed and often broken.  The general air is of disrepair and gloominess.

Our proposal will renovate and re-order the external realm so that it is a space of grace, peace and beauty. New planting and furniture will be installed. A new path will be created to allow greater enjoyment of the space.

The Coronation Stone will be relocated from outside the Guildhall to be in a sunken semi circle outside the new building, allowing far greater access to this historic, Grade 1 listed, monument.

The original footprint of St Mary’s Chapel on the south side of the existing church, and older than it, will be marked out for visitors to appreciate and see.