THE “priceless heritage” of “historic and exquisite” churches in England is at risk “as never before”, the chair of the National Churches Trust (NCT), Sir Philip Rutnam, has warned this week.
He was referring to the incontrovertible fact that 53 churches, chapels, and meeting houses had been added this 12 months to Historic England’s Heritage at Risk Register, announced last week.
Sir Philip said that the situation could worsen in the approaching months if the Government selected to not renew the Listed Places of Worship Grants Scheme, which is as a consequence of expire on 31 March 2025 (News, 25 October). Under the terms of the scheme, established in 2001, VAT on eligible repairs or alterations costing greater than £1000 to a listed place of worship may be reclaimed.
The query of its renewal was raised within the House of Lords last week by the Bishop of St Albans, Dr Alan Smith, who described the scheme as a “lifeline” for historic places of worship, which were also utilized by schools and as concert venues, he said. “We should raise, voluntarily, tens of tens of millions of kilos, and we actually need to search out ways to assist very many pressurised local communities.”
Responding, Baroness Twycross said that departmental budgets had been set after the Budget last month, and that “The end result of individual programmes reminiscent of the Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme will now be assessed throughout the departmental business-planning process.”
Sir Philip said: “Our fear is that lots of the recent churches and in addition those already on the register will likely be simply left to rot and decay, as there may be a desperate shortage of cash to take care of this heritage.”
National Churches TrustThe National Churches Trust map of at-risk buildings by constituency
There are 969 places of worship deemed by Historic England to be susceptible to closure. New entries this 12 months include Holy Trinity, Kendal, described on the parish website as “the heritage of the people of Kendal”. Many recent additions to the list are ancient churches, reminiscent of St Botolph’s, Hardham, in West Sussex. The small rural church, dating from the late eleventh century, has an almost complete set of early-Twelfth-century frescos — whose deteriorating condition has caused the constructing to be placed on the list.
Not all the brand new entries are ancient buildings, nevertheless. All Saints’ and Martyrs’, Langley, Rochdale, in Greater Manchester, was inbuilt 1963 in what’s described as “post-war international style, with a powerful emphasis on flexible worship and utilized by a newly formed overspill housing estate community”. Here, as in other entries, storm damage and water ingress are reported.
Most but not the entire newly listed places of worship are C of E churches. The thatched roof of the cob-built Quaker meeting house within the village of Come-to-Good, near Truro, is identified as leaking and in need of renewal, and there may be insect damage to the pine internal fittings. The highest level of urgency is indicated on the register, as there may be “immediate risk of rapid deterioration and loss of cloth”.
Analysis of the list by the National Churches Trust concludes that greater than 60 per cent of all MPs in England have a church, chapel, meeting house, or cathedral on the Register of their constituency. This includes the three predominant party leaders: the Prime Minister (ten in Holborn and St Pancras); Kemi Badenoch (three in north-west Essex); and Sir Ed Davey (one in Kingston and Surbiton). Constituencies with essentially the most historic churches in danger are all Conservative: South Shropshire (19), Louth and Horncastle (19), and Melton and Syston (17).
Creative CommonsNational Churches Trust funding in 2024 helped to remove seven churches from the register, including St Pancras Old Church, Camden
NCT funding in 2024 helped to remove seven churches from the register: St Thomas’s, Dudley, within the West Midlands; St George’s, Kidderminster, in Worcestershire; St Pancras Old Church, Camden, in London; St Stephen’s, Etton, and All Saints and St Andrew, Kingston, each in Cambridgeshire; St Mary’s, Buckland, in Oxfordshire; and Christ Church, Mount Pellon, in West Yorkshire.
“We hope to save lots of more in future years,” the NCT’s chief executive, Claire Walker, said. “But we’re seeing increasingly churches in financial distress. Demand for our grants is now so high that, in 2024, we could only fund one in 4 grant applications that we received.”
She continued: “Everybody can see for themselves the fantastic thing about historic churches. Less well-known is the incontrovertible fact that churches contribute £55 billion a 12 months to the UK in social good. They also provide preventative health and social support that may cost the NHS a further £8.4 billion a 12 months to fund — a figure equal to employing 230,000 nurses.
“What is required is a national plan to repair and save more of England’s churches, bringing together the Government, Christian denominations, and heritage bodies, so that cash may be effectively targeted at churches in danger.”
Sir Philip concluded: “We understand that a choice concerning the way forward for the scheme will likely be made by the Department for Culture Media and Sport [DCMS] in the following few months. The spending settlement that the DCMS received from the Chancellor within the Budget is less generous than another Government departments, and difficult spending decisions lie ahead.
“If the VAT scheme which has been in place in its current form since 2004 just isn’t renewed, the prices of repairing a historic church to enable it to remain open would increase by one fifth.”
