£138,000 to St Andrew's Church in Great Finborough, Suffolk, for Repairs

English Heritage and the Heritage Lottery Fund Announce Grants for Grade II-listed Parish Churches and other Religious Buildings -

A Suffolk church is just one of the 83 Grade II-listed places of worship across England set to benefit from a £7 million package of grants announced by English Heritage and the Heritage Lottery Fund today.

St Andrew's church in Great Finborough near Stowmarket has been awarded £138,000 which will pay for essential repairs to the local landmark's church spire, stone window surrounds and gutters.

Greg Luton, Regional Director for English Heritage in the East of England said:

"All these places of worship are greatly loved by their congregations who battle against the odds to preserve them. We want these grants to give them the boost needed to carry out vital repair work and so secure an active future for this remarkable collection of buildings."

St Andrew's Church is built of flint rubble in the Decorated Style and dates back to 1874 when Squire Pettiward - the local landholder - substantially rebuilt the earlier parish church. The Architect was R M Phipson, a student of Augustus Pugin, the renowned Victorian gothic revivalist. Unusually for a Suffolk church, St Andrew's has a tall spire and it is believed that the Squire requested this so his wife could find her way back to the village when she was out in the countryside riding her horse. The spire is still a well known local landmark.

Richard Brice, member of the Spire Restoration Committee at St Andrew's Church said:

"This grant from English Heritage and the Heritage Lottery Fund - for which we are very grateful - is a terrific boost to our endeavour to ensure that this fine local landmark remains intact for future generations,"

Robyn Greenblatt, HLF Regional Manager in the East of England, said:

"Places of worship are often the most prominent symbols of a community's heritage and have real architectural and historical value. They also provide local communities with a natural focus at important occasions as well as in day-to-day life. These two grants to the Sri Guru Singh Saba Temple and St Andrew's church in Suffolk will ensure that they continue to be an integral part of their community's identity for years to come."

In the East of England, Sri Guru Singh Saba Temple in Watford will also be receiving a grant of £116,000 which will pay for urgent repairs to the roofs, walls, chimney stacks and parapets.

This round of funding follows a £17.5 million handout in March for grade I and II* religious buildings under the same Repair Grants for Places of Worship scheme, launched by the two organisations in 2002. So far it has awarded £52.5 million to over 600 buildings struggling to cope with the ravages of time. Today's grants will give a new lease of life to a diverse collection of buildings much loved by their communities.

All listed places of worship in England are eligible to apply for a grant under the Repair Grants for Places of Worship scheme. The programme supports urgent repairs to the fabric of listed places of worship and priority is given to single repair projects costing less than £200,000. There is a two-stage application process with development funding available after Stage 1 to help work up proposals.