ABERYSTWYTH Town Council will begin the “long journey” to transform a controversially closed former Catholic church in the town into its new base.

The town council heard at a meeting last week that the purchase of St Winefride’s church on Queen’s Road had finally been completed, with the keys handed over.

The council will now set about making the building “watertight and secure”, and said the priority is the presbytery - a space the council wants to turn into its offices.

Town clerk Gweneira Raw-Rees told members last Monday that after the last portion of payment was complete on the sale, the council’s focus would be on getting grants to restore the presbytery “for the purpose of town council offices on site”.

The council would need to apply for planning permission for change of use, and councillors agreed to undertake a site visit this month to inspect the work required.

The council heard that one wall of the presbytery is not safe, and needed to be fixed “as a priority” along with stopping water getting in the porch of the building.

“These are all things we can do without grants,” the clerk said.

“It is going to be a big one for us.

“There will be a lot of work to attract grants but we need to make the building secure and watertight.”

The council will also undertake an inventory of what is in the building, before looking to employ a project leader to develop the site, and help secure grant funding for the renovation of the building and land.

Cllr Mark Strong said it was “vital” that the first work undertaken was to ensure the building was secure.

“The doors and windows are not as secure as you want them ,” he told members.

“We need to be getting security advice and a company in to secure the building before we do anything.”

Councillors also discussed potential names for the building when it is transformed into a council and community base, with members keen to retain the St Winefride’s name.

Neuadd Gwenffrewi or Canolfan Gwenffrewi - Gwenffrewi is the Welsh for Winefride’s - were two names considered by councillors.

Cllr Talat Chaudhri told members that it was “important to keep the tradition of the Catholich church” in the name.

No decision was reached on a new name, with town mayor Cllr Alun Williams saying there was “no rush”.

A vote is likely to be held on a new name by councillors next month.

St Winefride’s Church, built in 1867, was put on the market with conditions that it could not be used for religious worship after being closed “suddenly” by the Diocese of Menevia in 2012.

A long drawn-out battle over its future saw some church members fight the diocese over the decision to close it down on safety grounds - adamant that it could be restored.

A new church was eventually built by renovating a derelict one in Penparcau for worshippers, and St Winefride’s was abandoned.

The renovated Church of the Welsh Martyrs in Piercefield Lane opened in 2018.

The sale price of St Winefride’s to the council is not known.