The Daily Telegraph - Saturday
Prayers are answered as Church tackles £1bn conservation crisis
THE Church of England has invested a quarter of a million pounds in conservation projects as part of efforts to “preserve our national treasures”.
A total of £255,585 has been awarded to 123 projects in 34 dioceses – with the number of grants up 20 per cent on the year before – to help churches maintain and preserve significant cultural and historical items, including paintings, doors, chairs, clocks and organs.
The funds were distributed last year to support conservation projects in parishes, including work to preserve wall paintings, baptismal fonts, stained glass windows and rood screens.
However, while clergy and campaigners have welcomed the latest parish funding drive, there is still an estimated £1billion black hole to safeguard their preservation and funding.
The Rev Marcus Walker, the chairman of the Save the Parish campaign group, said: “This is very good news. So many people across the country work so hard to keep their churches up, it’s good to see the national church providing this level of support.”
The clergyman, who is rector at St Bartholomew the Great in the City of London, and is also a member of General Synod, the Church of England’s legislative body, added: “There is, however, much more to be done.
“With 45 per cent of all Grade I listed buildings being churches, and estimates of £1billion of essential repairs needed to keep them standing, we are all going to have to work out how to preserve our national treasures to be able to pass them on to the next generation.”
The £255,585 grants, from donated funds, were distributed by the Church’s national Cathedrals and Church Buildings team.
The money has also contributed to the conservation of monuments, including £2,000 for the restoration of a baptismal font first installed in 1500 in the village church of Nettlestead St Mary in the Diocese of St Edmundsbury and Ipswich.
The funds also included £35,000 for church organs, including £7,500 for St Anne’s Church, Aigburth, in the Diocese of Liverpool, for its Grade II* listed Henry Willis instrument. Built in 1913, it is described as the “last of its kind”, having survived two world wars and an arson attack by suffragettes.
Emily Gee, the director of Cathedrals and Church Buildings, said: “Many of these special features that have been conserved have been cherished over generations and remain deeply significant to their local communities, as well as of being of national historic interest.
“These remarkable wall paintings, stained glass, clocks, bells, furnishings and monuments are carefully maintained and looked after by teams of dedicated volunteers in church congregations.”
She added: “We are delighted that we were able to increase the number of grants by 20 per cent, as well as the coverage across England.
“With the help of our respected and much appreciated funders we were able to fund 123 conservation projects across 34 of the 42 dioceses.”