Two Wiltshire churches awarded a grant from The National Churches Trust
A funding boost has arrived for St Mary the Virgin, Steeple Ashton, and St Andrew, Rockbourne, as they are to share in a £1.5 million funding payout thanks to an investment in church heritage by the Heritage Stimulus Fund, part of the Government’s Culture Recovery Fund.
The grants will help fund work to the Grade II listed St Mary the Virgin and the Grade I listed St Andrew’s, and keep the churches at the heart of their local communities. They are two of 17 churches across the country receiving Heritage Stimulus Fund grants in this round of funding.
For St Mary, the grant will will facilitate urgent repairs to the face of the tower. The work includes pointing, window stonework repairs and pinning fractures in medieval grotesques to prevent loss of the historic fabric of the building.
For St Andrew, the grant will facilitate the removal of the tower roof piece by piece, storing all the pieces that are reuseable, and replacing those that are judged too far gone. All reused and new pieces are to be treated with effective insect proofing before reassembly.
Claire Walker, CEO National Churches Trust said:
"Historic local places of worship are a vital part of our national heritage, but sadly, a shortage of available funding means that many are in a very poor state of repair."
"The £1.5 million investment in our grants scheme by the Government’s Culture Recovery Fund is incredibly good news. It comes on top of £2 million from the Culture Recovery Fund awarded to us in October 2021, money which is already funding urgent heritage repairs at 15 churches in England.”
“The funding is a vote of confidence in the future of historic church buildings and a recognition of their importance to society."
Document Actions