A YORK church is set to close its doors for good.

The Parochial Church Council (PCC) of Acomb, York, say they have made the difficult decision to close its structurally-deteriorating second church building, St Aidan's, Ridgeway, in order to focus its worship and resources at the historic Parish Church of St Stephen’s, Acomb Green.

Built in 1964 as part of plans to serve the expanding housing areas of Green Lane, Gale Lane, Askham Lane and Chapelfields, St Aidan’s stands just half a mile from St Stephen’s, parts of which are believed to date back to the 12th Century with adaptations through the Victorian age and up to the present day.

Conceived sixty years ago as a multi-purpose building, St Aidan’s has been well-used for worship and social purposes at times, but despite remedial work in recent years, the condition of its roof and walls was confirmed to be poor in 2021 through the statutory five-yearly architect’s inspection of Church of England churches, with persistent water leakage as both a cause and a consequence of structural issues.

Back in 2019 The Press reported it was forced to close its doors temporarily over Christmas when rain leaking through the roof ‘blew the electrics'.

Now a public meeting on Sunday, March 6 heard that the building’s condition meant that doing nothing was not an option. It considered a number of alternative courses of action. These ranged from the minimum necessary repairs costing £100,000 as a short-term measure only, up to demolition and replacement with a new building costing between £750,000 and £1.5 million (in addition to demolition costs).

The final option presented was to close the building, on the assumption that it and its site would revert to the Diocese of York; following the public meeting, Acomb Parochial Church Council (PCC) agreed unanimously on the March 17 to close St Aidan’s.

Acomb PCC has since been advised that any proceeds of the sale of St Aidan’s site will accrue to the Parish of Acomb to support its future work and worship, and to assist in the church’s service to the community, including the ongoing maintenance of the existing church hall and St Stephen’s church.

Although St Aidan’s is neither the Parish Church nor a consecrated building, its closure will involve a number of legal stages and the Diocese of York will support Acomb PCC through this process.

Vicar of Acomb the Rev Pete Vivash said: “Our public meeting heard many happy Christian and community memories of St Aidan’s along with stories of faith shared and taught, with a lot of very positive comments about past worship there. We acknowledge and give thanks for the past but we must live in the reality of the present as we look to the future. Deciding to close St Aidan’s has been painful and sad, but it will end a growing drain on the parish’s resources to proclaim Jesus Christ and meet present-day needs in Acomb, and this will help us to face the future with gratitude and confidence.”