Societique for The World of Interiors
HOLY OFFICE
A chapel turned antiques storehouse in Morecambe was not what dealer Howard Byrom had in mind when he first took up the trade after a career in journalism. In this divine depository, however, wonders never cease
Societique’s HQ in Morecambe
Before he became known for antiques, Howard Byrom was a journalist. His childhood was spent in Blackburn, his adulthood in early 2000s London. Later, he migrated to Brighton to live with his photographer wife, Sonja, and raise their two sons. The family relocated to Lancashire in 2012, substituting the Regency city by the sea for savvy house prices and sunset views. ‘I never wanted to move to Morecambe,’ Howard admits of the penny-wise shift. ‘It was reading Tom Dyckhoff’s “Let’s move to…” piece for the Guardian that planted the idea… I knew Lancaster and I knew Morecambe wasn’t far from the Lake District. I like the lakes, I like the mountains, I also like the sea. In London, you are forever surrounded by life and chaos, whereas beyond the seashore, there are no more people. You go to the prom and there it is, nature in front of you, ever changing. It’s also a cheap place to be which allowed me to switch careers.’
When you buy a five-bedroom former B&B for £95,000 that house needs to be filled. And so began Howard’s journey into the world of antiques. ‘I bought a Volvo estate in January 2011, and by that May I had stopped writing and was selling furniture instead.’ He started with mid-century pieces and moved on to industrial furniture before a big break presented itself at a solicitor’s office in Settle, where Howard shrewdly engineered the purchase of various 18th-century beauties as a job lot.
Today, his antiques business is going gangbusters. Howard sells direct to Pimlico Road dealers, interior designers and deep-pocketed private collectors, who name Howard as their go-to for best-of-their-kind finds. Within the headquarters of his Society Antiques and Decorative, you may sleuth a genuine Orkney chair with a wonderful woven back in untouched condition. Or a dramatic memento mori still-life painting, a 19th-century ebonised mahogany museum cabinet or a 1950s brass-and-faux-bamboo bar cart. Here, even the most jaded eye will find something intriguing and beautiful. For one-of-a-kind furniture, it offers sensory overload. Who knew a late 19th-century chapel in Morecambe would host the mother lode of Lutyens benches and chairs?
Built in 1875, this remarkable chapel originally provided sanctuary to a congregation of God-fearing and hard-working people, whose fishermen were taking their lives into their hands every day. The chapel was their insurance. More than a century later, it became disused. Now, it serves as a storage facility brimming with history and wonderful things. It may not be used as originally intended, but it still takes your breath away.
With 465 square metres of floor space, the chapel is enormous, and the quality of the pieces inside astonishing. Preferring to keep items unrestored and in ‘as found’ condition, Howard regards a little bit of faded glamour as no bad thing. ‘If it’s dusty, all the better,’ he says. ‘Don’t touch it. Don’t do anything with it. Buy a beautiful thing and pass it on.’
Which goes some way to explaining why he wasn’t put off by the quixotic endeavour of taking on such a building, despite its many drawbacks. For instance, the double doors at the entrance are three metres tall and 90cm wide. The foyer ceilings are four-and-a-half metres high. There’s no parking, the access at the back is terrible and there are steps at the front. He knew that buying the chapel would be a huge undertaking, but ultimately decided to go for it: ‘Taking on any debt or upping your overheads can be daunting, but I’ve never looked back.’ Inside the chapel, the atmosphere is majestic. When he’s not in his van, Howard comes here most days and remains completely transfixed. ‘In hindsight, it was an awesome move,’ he confirms.
Society Antiques and Decorative. Visit societique.co.uk