£400,000 spring boost for the UK's historic churches

55 churches and chapels in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland that are set to benefit from rescue funding of £425,183 from the National Churches Trust, the UK’s church support charity.

Churches receiving grants from the National Churches Trust include:

• St Botolph, Colchester, Essex. The Grade II Listed church receives a £10,000 National Churches Trust Repair Grant to help fund urgent tower repairs. St Botolph’s church is of special interest as a late Georgian town church. Because of its acclaimed acoustic properties and versatility, St Botolph’s is widely regarded as Colchester’s best concert venue and the building's future will now be secure for the next generation and beyond.
• St Michael and All Angels, Brampton Abbotts, Herefordshire. The church has been closed since 2012 but thanks to a £20,000 funding boost from the National Churches Trust, the Grade II* church, on Historic England’s ‘Heritage At Risk Register’, will be made wind proof and watertight. The new vicar is planning to re-open the church offering worship on a monthly basis and with a community space including a pop-up community bakery.
• St Alban, Macclesfield, Cheshire. The Grade II* Listed Roman Catholic receives a £10,000 funding boost in the shape of a National Churches Trust Repair Grant to help fund urgent roof repairs. St Alban's was designed by the famous Victorian architect AWN Pugin and is described by Historic England as a "church of exceptional interest among the works of this major architect".
• St Julitta, Lanteglos by Camelford, Cornwall. Grade I Listed and on Historic England’s Heritage at Risk Register, the church, an important community resource which is under threat from structural deterioration, receives a £40,000 funding boost in the shape of a National Churches Trust Repair Grant to help fund urgent roof and stonework repairs. Parts of the building date back to Norman times.
• St Mary, Beverley, Yorkshire. The Grade I Listed church receives a £10,000 National Churches Trust Community Grant for its project to install much-needed toilets. As a result visitors will be able to spend more time in the church. St Mary’s Beverley was founded in 1120, a product of medieval Christianity testifying to the wealth of Beverley at the time, and tracing the story of English Gothic architecture from its earliest days to its Perpendicular climax. Author Sir John Betjeman praised it for ‘the perfection of its proportions, the noble simplicity of its stone mouldings, and the many changing vistas’.

11 of the churches being helped are on the Historic England 'At Risk Register'.

Huw Edwards, broadcaster and journalist and Vice President of The National Churches Trust said: “At the heart of communities in cities, towns and villages, churches are a treasure trove of architecture, history and faith. I'm delighted that the future of 55 churches and chapels in England, Scotland and Wales is being safeguarded thanks to grants of £425,183 from the National Churches Trust.

“Churches and chapels are some of the UK’s most beautiful buildings. So if you’re looking for a day out this Spring, why not pop into a church or chapel and discover their priceless heritage. Religious heritage belongs to all of us, so let’s celebrate it.”

A complete list of churches receiving this Spring's awards can be found here

For more information visit www.nationalchurchestrust.org