A STUNNING former church with links to Redditch’s one-time substantial needle industry has come up for sale.

St George The Martyr, a detached Grade II Listed Victorian edifice, is on the market in the region of £200,000.

It was consecrated in 1876 as a chapel of ease, and daughter church of St Stephen’s in Redditch town centre.

It is said that the main employers of the town, the needlemakers, did not want their factory workers going to the same church as them and so established a new one on the eastern edge of the then town.

The building was designed by Frederick Preedy, a Worcestershire born architect who had moved his practice to London in about 1860 but who still did a lot of work in Worcester Diocese.

Ian Parker, from property agents John Truslove, said: “It is a beautiful building and deserves a new future.

“It retains many original features, including stained glass windows and exposed beams. It is so sad. The building was only extended in the early 1990s to include a church hall, WCs and kitchen.

"But it is no different to many other such properties which can no longer be supported."

The church is set in 0.77 acres and lies in a residential location close to the town centre.

The original building is constructed of sandstone beneath a ridged and pitched tiled roof and features a traditional four-bay aisled nave, two-bay chancel with north organ chamber and vestry.

Mr Parker added: "There could be a number of possibilities for it going forward, but certainly a new vision is required.”