Developer fights to keep new features on church

A developer who replaced historic stained glass church windows with UPVC is fighting to keep the new installations.

Planning permission was granted in February 2020 to convert the former Christ Church Longcross, Chertsey, Surrey, into five homes.

The conversion work on the Grade II listed building has resulted in the loss of historic stained glass and ancient stone work being painted.

In September, Runnymede Borough Council (RBC) gave developer Gary Humphreys four months to submit a listed building consent application for the work undertaken, or any proposed remedial works.

Humphreys has, however, submitted a retrospective listed building consent application, indicating he wants to maintain the modern additions.

He has declined to comment.

According to documents which supported the developer's plans to install the UPVC windows, it wrote the removal of the original windows was done because they "were not suitable for the conversion to habitable dwellings as they were "single glazed and built into the surrounds with no framework".

The document added UPVC framing was used because it was the "only system capable of safely accommodating the encapsulated stained glass units".

It said this method also "achieved compliance with Building Regulations relating to energy efficiency, ventilation and safety".

Theresa Burton, founder of Friends of Christ Church Longcross, has been campaigning to safeguard the church's historic features.

She said the group's objection to the retrospective application "was not about planning technicality".

"It is about whether the law is protecting our historic listed buildings actually means anything," she said.

In April 2025, a judicial review was granted over concerns over the church's redevelopment raised by Burton.

"The developer is asking the council to simply accept that what he did is acceptable," Burton said.

According to documents written by Historic England regarding the retrospective planning application, it noted "a significant portion of the original stained glass has been removed entirely".

It added the "significance of the building has been harmed by the loss of the artistic contribution made by glass."

The document also noted the whereabouts of the glass was "unknown, and its loss is neither explained nor justified in the application".

An RBC spokesperson said the application would be discussed in due course.

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