Funding Repair Boost For Northhumberland Church

English Heritage and the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) today (Tuesday, 3 March) announced more than £15.5 million to support urgent repair work to 150 Grade I and II* listed places of worship across England. The grants were awarded under the organisations' joint Repair Grants for Places of Worship scheme.

The ancient Northumberland village church, St Andrew's in Bothal, is to receive £33,000 national funding for urgent repairs. Work includes extensive stripping, repairing and re-covering of the roofs. Existing copper covering will be replaced with stainless steel and other parts will be re-slated and have tiles repaired.

The grade I listed structure dates from the 13th century. Features include Jacobean altar rails, an Elizabethan communion cup and some windows that still retain 13th century glass.

The majority of recipients this year are Anglican churches, but there are also buildings belonging to other denominations and faiths. All the buildings have rich histories.  For many, these grants will be a massive boost to fundraising efforts to allow crucial and expensive repair work to take place, supporting local efforts which can be particularly difficult in small communities.

Dr Simon Thurley, Chief Executive of English Heritage, said 'From the rural parish churches of Norfolk to the splendour of the New West End Synagogue in London's Bayswater, England’s places of worship face some serious challenges. These grants will fund urgent repairs so that these wonderful buildings which are so central to this country’s heritage and identity can remain in use.'

Ivor Crowther, Head HLF North East region: 'These wonderful buildings are often central to community life and play an important role in people's everyday lives, but maintaining them is always a challenge. This substantial investment will help fund the vital repairs necessary to secure their long-term futures.'

Diana Evans, English Heritage's Head of Places of Worship, said: 'Each of these buildings, like the thousands of Places of Worship throughout the country, has huge local and national significance. English Heritage greatly admires the faithful work done by volunteers to care for them, keeping them in use for worship and countless other activities that sustain the buildings and enhance community life.'

Since 2002, £107.7 million of grants have been awarded to almost 1,200 Grade I and II* historic places of worship for building repairs through the partnership scheme, which is the largest single source of funds to help congregations to care for historic churches, chapels, synagogues and other historic places of worship. Even so, the scheme remains heavily oversubscribed, with twice as many applications each year as can be funded.

English Heritage and the Heritage Lottery Fund have jointly supported places of worship for more than 10 years and both organisations recognise the importance of enabling much-needed repairs to take place. This year the total amount available under the scheme is £25 million. £7.5 million of this will go to Grade II places of worship in May.