Antiques Roadshow expert restores former chapel he bought for £60k

An Antiques Roadshow expert has bought a former chapel for 60K to convert into a home and workshop.

Wayne Colquhoun, 60, bought Chapel Salem after falling in love with its 1868 romantic slate structure which had unfortunately fallen into disrepair. The upkeep of the Grade II listed chapel in Corris, Wales had become too expensive for the diminishing congregation. The chapel was put on the market in 2017 and was bought by Wayne for £60k

Wayne has transformed the upper gallery into a three-bed apartment. He wants to maintain the lower space and Canadian pitch pine panelling for use as his Antiques and Fine Art shop, moved from Liverpool, and a pottery and sculpture workshop.

Wayne says he hopes to hold talks and workshops in the space, with the aim of ‘giving back’ to the community and eventually employing locals. Wayne, a specialist in the restoration of historic and listed buildings, wants to keep the original features of the building like its single-glazed arched windows and reusing the pews as kitchen work surfaces.

Wayne said: “When I bought it the bible was still on the pulpit, as though the congregation had walked out and closed the door. When people close the doors on old buildings - that’s the danger point. It gets damp and dry rot sets in.

“These historic structures are evocative of Welsh history and have to be saved - we need people who will put their heart and soul into them.”