In some areas of the country small bands of dedicated volunteers are struggling against all odds to maintain their buildings and cope with growing repair bills, while in others successful churches with growing congregations urgently need to adapt and expand to accommodate new patterns of worship which demand more flexible spaces and modern facilities.Without forward thinking, both trends threaten the survival of our historic church buildings as we know them.
Often these buildings provide the only remaining physical and spiritual focus for rural communities - a reassuring and beautiful presence on the skyline and a solid and timeless reminder of our shared history. In urban areas, redevelopment and shifting populations may mean that they are the only remaining physical link to the origins of that part of town.Wherever they are, and whatever denomination or faith built them, they are loved and cherished by believers and non-believers alike.
The problem we urgently need to address is how to keep our places of worship in a good condition and accessible for everyone to use and enjoy. It is time to stop talking and start acting.We must start to work together now to safeguard these most precious parts of our national heritage for future generations.
What is English Heritage going to do about it?
Inspired! is an English Heritage-led campaign to secure a future for church buildings which we will launch formally in Spring 2006. Over the next few months we will be undertaking a mixture of research, pilot projects, training and capacity building to identify how best to keep our parish churches alive and thriving and to make a cast-iron case for greater Government support. We hope to have at least some of the answers to this complex problem to share with you by then, but in the meantime, here is a brief overview of what English Heritage will be doing in the coming months.
Commissioning a Fabric Needs Survey
This audit of the physical condition of listed church buildings will help us estimate outstanding repair bills for all historic places of worship in England and the average cost of annual maintenance. Questionnaires have already been sent to the137 congregations in Manchester, Newcastle, Suffolk, Cheltenham and Portsmouth who participated in a similar survey in 1994/5 providing us with a very useful comparison. We will also be surveying other areas, including non-Christian listed places of worship.The results of this study will be made public when the campaign is launched.
Mapping places of worship in need
This will identify the areas of the country with the most ‘vulnerable’ places of worship. The criteria will include statistical data on repair costs, expenditure on repairs, congregational and community support and contributions. The results will complement the Fabric Needs Survey to give us a better idea of the scale of the problems and identify the parts of the country most in need of concerted support.
Rolling out Maintenance Pilots
A fundamental question is whether grants might be better used to fund maintenance as well as repair. To test1 this approach we are already funding two maintenance pilots (in the dioceses of London and St Edmundsbury and Ipswich) and hope to commission others.
Demystifying Statements of Significance
‘Statements of Significance’ should be a description of what is particularly special about the architecture and character of a church building to inform decisions on changes, but they can easily turn into just a list of facts.We want to demonstrate how Statements of Significance can be easy – and enjoyable – to write and to encourage congregations to draw in local sources of knowledge when creating them. These Statements can be part of denominational reviews and inform the new unified designations to be created under the Heritage Protection Review proposals. By building on existing guidance and experience, we will promote templates and a training programme for writing Statements of Significance after April 2006.
Carrying out a review of the English Heritage/Heritage Lottery Fund Places of Worship Joint Schemes 1996-2005
With the Heritage Lottery Fund, we are reviewing how effective the joint grant schemes have been in order to inform our future financial support for places of worship. Thankfully major repairs to this early 20th century church were completed just before a tornado hit the city in August. High winds ripped some slates off the roof allowing water to leak through to the interior but the damage was limited.
Increasing organisational capacity
As well as coping with fundraising for the fabric, arguably one of the biggest challenges facing congregations is knowing how to manage maintenance and repair projects.We intend to fund appropriate new posts (such as building conservation or project officers) and to offer training for those already responsible for looking after buildings. The intention is that these people will help individual congregations and denominations to better manage the historic church buildings in their care.
Educating Local Authorities
An important part of the campaign is to increase the involvement of local planning authorities by helping them with their role in ecclesiastical statutory work. In December 2005 we will be introducing a new module on ecclesiastical work to our existing HELM (Historic Environment: Local Management) website, concentrating on the exemption procedures. This topic will also be included in the HELM seminars which offer information and training for those in local authorities who make decisions about the historic environment.
Incorporating historic buildings in denominational Strategies
Many denominations are considering their buildings as part of wider strategic reviews. From our participation so far, we will be producing a template for bringing the value and opportunities that historic places of worship can offer into these reviews. The template will be ready by Spring 2006.
Transforming Ecclesiastical Statutory Casework
English Heritage is currently engaged in reforms to improve the quality and delivery of all its advice and services. Over the last year we have been delivering advice on secular statutory work on average 25% faster than two years ago across the country. With the co-operation of the denominations, we intend to extend the same standards to ecclesiastical statutory work and to offer more timely and high quality advice to support denominational decision makers.
For more information:
Nick Chapple
020 7973 3267
English Heritage,
23 Savile Row,
London W1S 2ET
churches@english-heritage.org.uk
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