A USE is being sought for a once important building in Albaston which has become redundant.

Albaston Cemetery Chapel is no longer used for funerals or meetings, but rather than board up the windows and leave it vacant Calstock Parish Council is appealing to the community for ideas.

The parish council-owned building, which overlooks the Tamar Valley, is surrounded by a cemetery which is still in use so any activities going on would have to be acceptable in a place of rest.

Cllr Jerome Irons said the building was fairly large and could be used for many purposes such as displays, museum, theatre, sport or workshops. It has toilets and a kitchen.

'We want groups or individuals to contact us if they have a use for the chapel because to leave it is a ridiculous waste,' he said. 'The parish council may own it in name but it really is the community's building.'

'The council would be able to look at a level of refurbishment like putting in disabled toilets or updating the heating but we really want someone to run the premises.

'There is no point in spending money improving the building if no-one is interested in using it on a regular basis.'

The cemetery chapel, built in the late 19th Century, was closed in April last year to funerals after interest from families requesting them dropped significantly.

It used to hold 50 to 60 funerals a year but in recent years only one or two have been held there due to the increase in cremations and other local venues being used, including the newer Methodist chapel at Albaston.

Parish council meetings once held in the cemetery chapel now take place at the Tamar Valley Centre where Calstock Parish Council has an office.

Mr Irons said it would be a great venue for schoolchildren to learn about the area through the Calstock Archive or a place for lectures, talks or an artist's studio.

'It is so close to the Tamar Valley Centre where the archive is based — people only have to walk along the road — it could be a permanent exhibition space that people could visit after going to the centre.

'People come from all over the world to find out their family history and visit the cemetery here. It would be nice to find a use for this building to link it in in some way.'

Anyone interested in a long term use for the Albaston Cemetery Chapel should contact Calstock Parish Council on 01822 835038 or go to the website: calstockparishcouncil.org.uk