St Michael’s Church gets £122,760 to explore a hostel conversion

What happened

St Michael’s Church in Cold Kirby could become a low-cost hostel after a £122,760 award from the National Lottery Heritage Fund, The Yorkshire Post reported on 26 August 2026. Saint Aelred’s Pilgrim Trail Society wants to adapt the closed church as Saint Michael’s Lodge. The funding will help establish whether and how that proposal can work, rather than pay for a completed conversion.

According to the report, the society will use the grant to investigate conservation, design, access, planning and environmental requirements. It will also examine the business and operational arrangements needed to run the proposed accommodation. Those studies will bring the building’s physical needs and its possible future use into the same planning process, preparing proposals for a subsequent stage.

The church closed in 2024 because of parish reorganisation within the Diocese of York, according to The Yorkshire Post. The society’s proposal would give it a different role: offering overnight stays to pilgrims, walkers, riders and other visitors to the North York Moors. It is a visitor-accommodation project, not a proposal to turn the building into private homes.

The society also plans a full consultation with Cold Kirby residents and other interested parties, the report said. Local people will be able to learn about the proposals, give their views and help shape their development. For neighbours, the grant therefore marks the start of a process in which the proposed use still needs to be examined and discussed.

The background

Historic England designated St Michael’s as Grade II listed in 2025, according to The Yorkshire Post’s account. In England, listing recognises a building’s special architectural or historic interest and brings legal protection. It does not automatically prevent a new use, but alterations affecting that special interest generally require listed building consent, separately from any planning permission that may be needed.

For a listed conversion, the key issue is how to accommodate a new function without harming the qualities that justify protection. Grade II status is not simply a safeguard for a building’s outward appearance; interiors can also fall within its protection. The distinction is explained in Property Pulse UK’s coverage of what Grade II listing protects at Doncaster Dome.

St Michael’s stands on both Saint Aelred’s Pilgrim Trail and the Cleveland Way National Trail, according to the source report. It is also just over a mile from the North York Moors National Park’s Sutton Bank Centre. That location explains the society’s focus on overnight accommodation for people travelling through the area, rather than an unrelated use for the building.

Saint Aelred’s Pilgrim Trail launched in 2024 as a 41-mile circular route for walkers, cyclists and horse riders, the report said. It connects nine churches in Upper Ryedale and Helmsley with Rievaulx Abbey. The proposed lodge would add an overnight stopping point within that network, supporting the society’s wider aim of connecting visitors with the landscape, local communities and the story of Saint Aelred of Rievaulx.

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What people are saying

The Reverend Ian Robinson, project lead for Saint Michael’s Lodge, said the award would allow the society to take its proposal further, according to The Yorkshire Post. He described an ambition to provide affordable accommodation while securing a lasting use for the closed church. His comments presented the lodge as a hoped-for outcome of the work, rather than an established operation.

Robinson also linked the proposal to protecting the building’s heritage and enabling it to serve people again, the report said. That sets out two objectives for the project: finding a useful role and conserving the historic fabric. The specialist investigations will need to consider both together, rather than treating the building as an empty shell available for unrestricted alteration.

Helen Featherstone, director of England – North at the National Lottery Heritage Fund, described the church as an important part of the North York Moors’ heritage. According to the report, she said the funding would help explore how conservation and adaptation could provide a welcoming place for visitors. Both Featherstone and Robinson credited National Lottery players with making the award possible.

The funder’s stated position is therefore support for investigating a heritage-led reuse, not confirmation that every aspect of a conversion has been resolved. A separate example, the award-winning conservation-led retrofit of St Andrew’s Chapel, illustrates the wider relationship between adapting older buildings and retaining their character. That project does not establish what alterations would be suitable or acceptable at Cold Kirby.

What happens next

The next stage identified in the August report is professional work to establish how the lodge could be delivered. Conservation and design investigations will sit alongside access, environmental and planning work. Business and operational studies will examine the proposed use as accommodation, an important distinction because making a building physically usable and establishing a workable service are separate tasks.

The planned consultation will give residents and other stakeholders an opportunity to influence the developing proposals, according to the society’s plans reported by The Yorkshire Post. Readers should distinguish that engagement from any formal statutory consultation associated with a future application. Community support, a funding award and regulatory permission are different parts of a project; none automatically substitutes for the others.

For owners considering a comparable listed-building project, identifying protected features is an early practical consideration. The scope of protection can extend beyond the features most obvious from the street, as coverage of Barn Close’s listed Arts and Crafts interiors explains. The Cold Kirby grant specifically allows for conservation investigations, so the scheme can be developed around the church rather than assuming a standard conversion design.

The source report does not give an opening date, bed numbers or an overnight price for Saint Michael’s Lodge. It describes affordable accommodation as the society’s ambition, with proposals to be prepared for the next stage after the funded investigations. Prospective visitors should therefore treat the lodge as a developing project, not an available place to book on the trail.

Why this matters

For Cold Kirby residents, the proposed lodge offers a possible new use for a closed local building, with consultation promised before plans progress. For owners and buyers of listed property, the project shows why a conversion needs more than an idea and an initial grant: conservation, permissions and operating costs must all be examined. The £122,760 award supports that preparatory work, according to the report; it should not be mistaken for confirmation that visitor accommodation is ready to open.