A £50,000 loan is being requested to complete the restoration of a former chapel once used by the Tolpuddle Martyrs.

West Dorset district councillors are being asked to agree the loan, which will be repaid at 1 per cent interest.

The Tolpuddle Old Chapel Trust have been raising money to restore the Grade Two listed building, which had been on the Historic England ‘Buildings at Risk’ register. It had, until recently, been used as an agricultural store.

The district council has already given a £30,000 grant towards the £658,000 project – which is expected to be part funded from the Heritage Lottery Fund which has been asked for a grant of £329,300.

Councillors are being told at a strategy meeting on November 1st that if the chapel trust is successful with its grant applications work should start on the building in January 2019.

If the council committee agrees the loan it would be drawn down as a lump sum in January 2019 and repaid as a lump sum by August 2021, earning more than £2,000 in interest. The loan will only be given if the Trust can prove that it has all the other funding in place. The money will be used to help the Trust’s cashflow during the restoration work.