A County Durham church has gone up for sale after previous plans to convert it into a home fell through. 

St Paul’s Church in Witton Park, Bishop Auckland, was formally closed for regular public worship on February 11, 2021, following a period of public consultation.

The request for the closure of the church came from the wardens and the Parochial Church Council (PCC) of Witton Park.

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There was no longer a regular congregation and maintaining the church building was beyond the energy and resources of the few faithful people who had been doing so in recent years.

Despite finishing its use as a church, proposals to turn it into a home in 2021 came to nothing, and now it finds itself on the market for a new owner. 

The Northern Echo: The Northern Echo: The Northern Echo: The Northern Echo: Pictures: Vickers & Barrass Chartered Surveyors.

With permission to turn the former place of worship into a four-bedroom property, there is potential for the building, with the property appearing through the online estate agent site On the Market.

The house is being sold by Vickers & Barrass Chartered Surveyors in Darlington, who says: "An exciting and rare opportunity to acquire a stone built closed church which has full planning permission for conversion to a detached two storey four bedroom dwelling.

"The church is a beautiful building set on its own grounds with a garden surrounding the building and a stone boundary wall.

"The churchyard does not contain any graves or burials.

"Plans have been approved for conversion into a four-bedroom dwelling with an off-road parking area for two cars.

"Internally the building is extremely spacious and retains many original features, with the planning consent providing a large open-plan living area to the west end with the bedrooms over two floors to the east end."