Getting the safety nets in place

What happens when worship stops?

• A charitable trust takes the building on
• The place of worship is converted to another use
• The building is demolished

The Orthodox Cathedral of the Dormition of the Mother of God and All Saints, listed grade II*. Although the 2001 census revealed that 72% of the population said they were Christian and in a Home Office Citizenship Survey four out of five people expressed a ‘religious affiliation’, the number of active worshippers has fallen. The Church of England alone has lost almost two million since 1990 and demographic changes have left some areas with more places of worship than the remaining community can support. So what happens to these buildings?

• More than 10% of Church of England churches have been made redundant since 1969, the majority in the first decade. The Church of England predicts that redundancies will continue at the current rate of 25-30 a year but anecdotal evidence suggests this could rise sharply in the near future.
• The Methodist Church saw 532 closures from 1992 to 2001 and 289 closures between 2002 and 2005.
• Since the Survey of the Jewish Built Heritage began in 1996, 20 synagogues have closed.

The main charitable trusts

The Churches Conservation Trust (CCT) Since 1969 a total of 336 redundant Anglican parish churches have been handed to the CCT, a charity which receives funding from both the Government and Church Commissioners. Since 2001, the Trust's funds have been frozen, yet in this same period it has been given responsibility for another 12 churches, most with big repair bills. As a result the CCT is exploring the possibility of ‘mothballing’ some of its churches until new sources of funding can be found. English Heritage is supporting the CCT in such areas as education and marketing.

The Historic Chapels Trust (HCT) The HCT was established in 1993 to take on non-Anglican places of worship of outstanding architectural and historic interest including nonconformist chapels, Roman Catholic churches and synagogues.

Friends of Friendless Churches (FFC) is a small charity set up in 1957 to save disused places of worship of architectural and historic interest from demolition, decay and unsympathetic conversion. The FFC has already helped to save 100 churches and chapels in England and Wales, accepting direct responsibility, by ownership, for 38. For every building that the FFC is able to take into care, there are two more which they have to decline through lack of resources.

Conversion

“I salute English Heritage for highlighting the threat to the fabric of our landscape once again.What would we rather have at the end of our street, a church or a boarded up lot? I know what my answer is.” Griff Rhys Jones Television presenter

Demolition

Of the 1,700 Church of England parish churches which have been made redundant since 1969, 374 have been demolished. Two pre-war synagogues have been demolished in England since 1997 including one this year – the Birmingham Progressive Synagogue built in 1938.

Bethesda Methodist Chapel

The Bethesda Methodist Chapel, Stoke-on-Trent closed for worship in 1985 and was taken on by the Historic Chapels Trust. A £2.5m repair scheme funded by English Heritage, the Heritage Lottery Fund, the HCT and Bethesda Friends is in progress.