When Historic England’s Heritage At Risk Register was published last month, four of our churches had been taken off, thanks to the hard work of those who care for them with the support of the diocesan Church Buildings Team.
We spoke to two of those churches to find out more.
St Mary and All Saints, Hampton Lovett
The Grade 1 listed Church at Hampton Lovett was added to the Heritage At Risk Register in 2022 primarily due to the state of the stonework on the tower both internally and externally. Since then, the PCC has completed a huge amount of work to ensure that the much-loved church continues to play an important role in their local community.
Churchwarden, Rachel Wyatt said: “Going onto the At Risk Register definitely helped us demonstrate the real need for improvements to our church, particularly when applying for grants. We were fortunate to be given funding from the National Lottery Heritage Fund which enabled us to repoint the stonework in our 14th Century tower and repair the steps as well as repointing the west gable end of the church. However, we’ve done a lot more work than this; improving other aspects of stonework, refurbishing the windows, putting in new oak doors and lighting and improving the drainage. It has made our building much more accessible as well as safer.”
“As a PCC it was important to us that we were acting responsibly, using the financial and other resources that we had available, to ensure that the church is as well maintained as possible. We have also had a great reaction from the community to the work that we’ve done – our heritage open days have been really well attended and people love going up the tower, which wasn’t possible before. It has all helped to make sure our church is at the heart of our community and although we’re delighted to have come off the At Risk Register, there is still more we want to do improve our historically important and valued place of worship.”
Top Church, Dudley
St Thomas and St Luke (Top Church) in Dudley has been on the Historic England Heritage At Risk register for many years. Since becoming a resourcing church, they have implemented significant improvements to the building using a combination of Heritage Lottery and Church of England Strategic Development Funding.
Rector of Dudley, James Treasure, said: “Our church needed a considerable amount of work when I arrived seven years ago, but the main threats were the stonework on the roof, which was vulnerable to falling and the historic windows, which were in very poor repair. It has been a remarkable team effort to make the repairs and ensure the building is a place for the whole community. The Strategic Development Funding enabled us to reorder the inside, improving toilet facilities and creating flexible spaces. The support from the National Lottery Heritage Fund enabled us to do the conservation work, without which we wouldn’t have been able to do the reordering. Both of these elements were important in securing the future of this locally iconic building.
“Coming off the register is amazing news for both our church congregation and the wider community. Our building is now safe and secure, but there is still more work to be done and are now looking to make a further Heritage Lottery Bid. It has been great to see how the National Lottery funding and the vision of Top Church could work well together. We feel that the heritage work has blended into the vision of our church and thanks to the ongoing work of our Community and Heritage Director, Kath Poole, we have been able to share that mission with the wider community and local schools.”
Mark Carter, Director of Church Buildings in the diocesan team, echoed his delight: “We’re so grateful that Historic England have recognised the hard work undertaken at our four churches, in removing them from the At Risk Register this year. It is a collaborative effort to complete projects like these through the dedication of the church personnel, the support of funders such as the National Lottery Heritage Fund, and the input of diocesan support staff and external heritage bodies. I hope these examples can show churches of all sizes that may have major fabric needs that there are solutions available to repair and improve churches, that can go hand in hand with mission and community outreach.
The Church Buildings Team are always happy to supp ort parishes who have significant issues with the church fabric and need assistance with defining the way ahead. Contact them at via churches@cofe-worcester.org.uk or call on 01905 732809.
