THE new owner of a historic chapel has confirmed plans are in place for a nursery to be opened at the site.

Tyldesley Top Chapel was purchased in a post-auction bid in November for £127,500 by surveillance company Rapid Deployment CCTV, who have given a 10-year lease for a new nursery to be based at the Upper George Street property.

Work has been carried out at the Grade II listed building in the last five weeks- which has been overseen by Wigan Council's archives department- to make sure it is fit for purpose for the children's facility with an opening date provisionally set for May.

Managing director of Rapid Deployment CCTV James Fletcher also said an archive of items at the chapel, with some of them dating back to the 17th Century, was not included in the sale made by previous owner Cadence Cafe CIC.

Its John Nicholson organ, which was installed in 1859, is set to be transferred from the building as well. 

The chapel, which was built in 1789, was bought by Cadence Cafe CIC for £50,000 in September 2015 after being awarded £188,200 by Wigan Council’s Deal for Communities Investment Fund to enable it to be used as a multi-purpose community facility.

The building’s ownership was controversially transferred to Cadence Festivals Limited just eight months later, enabling it to be sold as a commercial property.