EIGHT historic churches prone to closure, or with urgent repair needs, have been awarded a share of £1.25 million from the National Lottery Heritage Fund, it was announced on Monday.
The grants are a part of the Fund’s previously announced three-year £15-million investment in places of worship, improving sustainability, accessibility, and visitor experience, amongst other areas.
A Grade II listed constructing on Historic England’s At Risk register, St George the Martyr, Queen Square, Holborn, London, is described as “a haven of peace and wonder, a spot of sanctuary amidst the bustle of life”, but one “requiring quite a lot of love and a focus. . . It’s now very old and really drained, with broken plaster, peeling paint and inadequate heating.”
The plan is for the parish church, inbuilt in 1723, to be “rooted deep within the local neighbourhood but being here also for the companies, institutions, and varied communities that make up and go through town centre”. It is to receive a development grant of £380,389.
The Stone and Story project at St Martin’s, Bulmer, a part of the Howardian Benefice in York diocese, is to receive one other of the most important grants, at £248,504. The project includes conserving the 14th-century tower, improving thermal efficiency, opening up the church to more people, strengthening community links, and enhancing access and participation. The church is described as “resembling a really early Christian Church in its modest size, easy arrangements and lack of ornament. Visitors often remark on its godly and peaceful atmosphere.” Castle Howard is within the parish.
All Saints’, Helmsley, also in North Yorkshire, within the National Park, has been given just over £138,000 to support the conservation of its Edwardian murals. The community describes the Grade II listed church as a spot of “friendship and support”. The murals tell the story of how Christianity spread in the world.
“We are thrilled by the award,” a PCC member, Richard Hiscocks, said. It “will allow us to create an in depth plan to revive and preserve our amazing but fragile heritage and to assist develop traditional skills locally. We’re extremely grateful to everyone that supports the National Lottery.”
A grant of £30,804 has been awarded for the refurbishment of the tower, spire, and roof of St John the Baptist, Nash, a Thirteenth-century constructing within the hills of south Shropshire. The repairs would remove it from the At Risk register and “enable the community to attach with its natural and social heritage.
Jesmond United Reformed Church, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, redeveloped from a “dark and foreboding edifice” in 2015, is a well known concert venue. Its “Discover Jesmond 1888” project with the Anglican St George’s, Jesmond — to save lots of two rare T. C. Lewis pipe organs and to create a heritage trail and events programme to attach the churches and have interaction the community of their shared heritage — is awarded £163,600.
Light and Life for All, a project at Holt Methodist Church, in Norfolk, involves a plan to update the Grade II listed constructing for community use, repairing and restoring it to make it more accessible, user-friendly, and “each interesting and practical”. A community audit identified a necessity for activities and initiatives for kids and young people. The project is to receive a development grant of £40,018.
The Greek Orthodox Church of St Basil and St Paisios, Lincoln, moved into its Grade II listed constructing, the previous St Botolph’s, in 2018. It goals to “construct a thriving community for Greeks and Greek Cypriots living within the local area in addition to visitors”. The project is to receive £51,763 to fund surveys to “understand the growing needs” of the constructing, which dates from 1721.
Lochwinnoch Parish Church, Renfrewshire, inbuilt 1806, was closed for worship in 2020 and is now on Scotland’s Buildings at Risk register. It is deemed to be in generally sound condition and is up on the market. The Lochwinnoch Community Development Trust plans to purchase the constructing from the Church of Scotland and transform it right into a multi-use community hub. It has been awarded a grant of £198,250 to fund the event phase of the restoration. The chair of the Trust, Diarmid Harris, said that the renovation of “our beloved church” would “realise our ambition to reinstate our Kirk at the center of our community”.
The National Lottery Heritage Fund is celebrating its thirtieth anniversary (News, 29 November). Since 1994, it has awarded greater than £1 billion to greater than 8200 places of worship to support restoration and conservation.
Its chief executive, Eilish McGuinness, said: “This announcement is a incredible solution to end what has been an incredible yr of celebration. We are delighted to take a position in these places of worship, ensuring that their heritage could be valued, cared for, and sustained, for everybody, now and in the long run.”
