Overview

The Friends of the Waterhouse Chapels is a group of volunteers who care about the chapels and want to help protect and restore them. We plan to organise events, raise awareness, and encourage the community to get involved in saving this important part of the history of Ince. By working together, we can ensure the Waterhouse Chapels can be saved and retained as part of our heritage.

Heritage is everything that comes from the past and helps us understand who we are today. It includes old buildings, special places, traditions, and stories that have been passed down from our parents, grandparents, and even great-grandparents.

For example, Ince Cemetery and the Waterhouse Chapels are part of our heritage because they were built a long time ago and tell us about the people who lived before us. 

Heritage also includes things like old photographs, objects in museums, and even the way we celebrate special days. Heritage is important because it helps us remember history, learn about our community, and take care of the things that make the township of Ince special. 

But sometimes, old buildings and places can get damaged or forgotten. That’s why we need to save and protect them!

One way to do this is through adaptive reuse, which means giving old buildings a new purpose while keeping their history alive. Instead of knocking them down, we can turn them into something useful again, like a museum, a café, or a community space. 

This helps us keep the stories of the past while making sure the buildings are used and enjoyed by people today and in the future.

The Wigan Building Preservation Trust is working hard to protect, save and restore important buildings in our area, like the Waterhouse Chapels. With the help of a grant from the Architectural Heritage Fund (AHF), the trust is exploring ways to bring these chapels back to life, making sure they can be used and appreciated for many years to come.

A big part of this project is community engagement, which means involving local people in the restoration and future use of heritage buildings. The Trust is working with local schools to teach children about Ince history, architecture, and conservation through fun activities, site visits, and creative projects. This helps young people feel connected to their local heritage and understand why it’s important to look after old buildings.

When we help to protect and reuse heritage buildings, we are like "history heroes", keeping the past alive in new and exciting ways!