Prayer wall arch will be ‘twice size of Angel of the North’
THE “iconic arch” of a national landmark prayer site will be twice the size of the Angel of the North when it is built near to Coleshill.
Rising to 169 feet (51.5m), the
Eternal Wall of Answered Prayer will be “a monumental piece of public art with the largest database of hope stories in the world”.
Costing £9.35 million, it will be visible from up to six miles away and its backers forecast it will “be seen by 500,000 journeys each week”.
They claim it will “attract 300,000 visitors per year” and could generate “more than £9 million” for the local economy.
North Warwickshire Borough Council has granted planning permission and the decision has been ratified by the Secretary of State.
Eternal Wall of Answered Prayer
CEO Richard Gamble, a former chaplain of Leicester City Football Club, said: “It’s been 16 years since the idea was first born. To finally receive the official consent is incredible.
“We are building a very special landmark and it is an amazing opportunity for the British people to leave a legacy of hope for future generations.
“The unique thing about the project is all about the community. It is crowdfunded and a million people will come together to crowd create this incredible piece of art with their stories of hope. What we’re doing is historic.”
Its ‘eternal arch’ structure will be built with one million bricks representing an individual prayer ‘‘that has been answered for people across the country’’.
Each brick will tell an individual’s story of them praying to Jesus and the answer they received, organisers said.
Interactive technology and an app will enable visitors to hold their smartphone against a brick to read the personal answered prayer story it’s linked to.
Construction is expected to begin in spring 2021 with completion in autumn 2022. The arch will be built on land near Coleshill Manor in between the M6 and M42. It is anticipated that building the Eternal Wall of Answered Prayer will create 60 new construction jobs from 2021.
The site will then have 20 full-time positions for employees to work for the charity in the visitor centre, cafe, bookstore and a 24-hour on-site chaplaincy support service.