by Cameron Henderson, Telegraph (Photo: Wikimedia Creative Commons)
Villagers say ‘screaming children’ will damage Grade I-listed religious building in Dorset
A row has broken out in a Dorset village after a vicar installed a £20,000 children’s soft play area inside a church.
The Rev Andrew Rawding set up the children’s play equipment in the nave of St Mary’s in Burton Bradstock alongside the pews of the church to give children and parents “somewhere to shelter from the rain”.
The massive two-storey block of soft play, built just inches from the church’s organ, features a slide, steps and large foam blocks for children to build up and climb over.
He hoped the apparatus would encourage children to come to the Grade I-listed building – which is largely unused for much of the week – while fulfilling the need for an indoor play area in the village.
However, residents have raised concerns about the play centre not being in keeping with the solemnity of a place of worship, and the risk of children damaging the building.
One resident accused the vicar of disregarding the community’s views on the play area.
The villager, who did not wish to be named, told The Telegraph: “I was against the principle of how it was done. He’s riding roughshod over other people’s views.
“The church should be left for people to go in and be quiet and have a think without a load of screaming children bouncing around in their play area. I don’t get the feeling that there was very much of a consultation about it.”
Mr Rawding said he had gauged interest in a soft play unit on Facebook and had been flooded with positive feedback.