Grass Protection Mesh at Somerford Chapel

Overview

All Saints’ Chapel of Ease, Somerford, is a beautiful and secluded Grade II listed building in the rolling Cheshire countryside. It was built in 1725, but despite its appeal, the weather means that services can only be held there between May and September.

https://somerfordparishcouncil.gov.uk/somerford-chapel

Issue 

Access is via a long track and the only available car parking is on the grass fields outside the perimeter fencing. But sadly those lovely picturesque fields become unusable in the wetter months.

As a consequence, the Chapel’s income is much reduced since it can’t benefit from a collection plate when there are no regular services, and can’t regularly offer other events such as weddings and christenings. This all makes covering the costs of maintenance and any repairs very difficult.

The Parish Council decided to help improve the parking areas to increase footfall and increase the number of services that can be held there, in time for the 300th anniversary of the construction of the Chapel. Due to restrictive planning issues, the need to keep costs down and with the condition that any new car park should not produce any water runoff, hardstanding could not be considered.

As well as the reinforcement of the car parking area, a walkway for pedestrians and wheelchair users was also needed along the side of the building to the chapel doors. Most importantly, the car park and walkway had to be in keeping with the surroundings, so a grass finish was essential.

Solution

It was agreed, after meetings on site, to use ‘Grass Reinforcement Heavy’ installed by Grassmats. This was decided after taking soil and drainage conditions into consideration, the expected frequency of use and low costs needed to provide the best value for money solution. The matting was installed by the Grassmats install team over two days.

Just a couple of weeks after the mats were installed the Chapel had its best attended service for many years, and is now planning to hold the first Christmas service there in a very long time. And as expected, a few weeks later the mats have become entangled with the grass and really are almost invisible. We hope it will be well used for many years to come.

Before

After the grass has grown

Benefits

Somerford Parish Council now have a reinforced grass car parking area which can be used all year round for overflow car parking. The grass park will remove the issues regarding parking for events like weddings. The grass car park is very much in keeping with the green surroundings and the long-term ethos of the parish council.

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