Plans lodged to turn church into hostel
But now the 116-year-old Stoer Free Presbyterian Church could soon have a new function – as a budget accommodation block for visitors to north west Sutherland.
Local woman Claire Belshaw has lodged a planning application with Highland Council to turn the modest, single-storey building into a 20-bed hostel.
She is hoping to cater for the increasing number of visitors drawn to the north west by tourism route NC500
A design statement including in the application, reads: “There is a growing demand for visitor accommodation in Assynt as a result of increasing tourism.
“This form of development can only beneft the local area by providing employment and protecting a substantial building from falling into disrepair."
The slate-roofed church, which still has its pews with the capacity to seat 80 worshippers, is sited seven miles north of Lochinver on the B869 road to Kylesku.
It is set back from the road, half way between the crofting townships of Stoer and Clashnessie. The site is in the Assynt-Coigach National scenic area.
The church’s history can be traced back to 1902 with hand-written title deeds to the building showing that the plot of land on which it stands, was feued by the Duke of Sutherland to 10 named individuals from Culkein, Achnacarnin, Clashnessie, Clashmore, Clachtoll and Balchladich.
Its hey-day would have been in the 1950s when the pews would have been crammed with worshippers. But the church ceased being used at the millennium with the last service thought to have taken place in 2001.
A planning application to convert it into a house was lodged in 2011, but did not proceed. At the time Kenneth Macleod of Inverness solicitors and estate agents Macleods WS, acted on behalf of the Church, and said the Church was clear that any future use of the building should be for residential purposes and not for “any purposes directly opposed to the preaching of the Gospel”.
The current planning application states that the building’s ground floor would be used for the hostel’s reception, common areas and utility spaces, as well as a disabled access bedroom and bathroom.
A newly erected first floor would accommodate bed spaces and sanitary facilities, as well as a self-contained apartment for a warden.
Ms Belshaw is proposing that a new outbuilding be erected to the north of the church as storage for motorbikes, bikes and bins. An existing car park with space for 11 vehicles would be retained.
