Historic churches threatened by funding cuts and climate change National Churches Trust warns

A big increase in the number of historic churches and chapels seeking funding for urgent repairs has been reportedly the National Churches Trust in its 2017-18 review.

• St Botolph’s church in Boston, Lincolnshire, the UK’s largest parish church. Grade I listed and on Historic England’s ‘Heritage at Risk’ register, St Botolph’s received a £40,000 grant for urgent roof repairs.
• St David’s Old Church in Llanwrtyd, Wales, a church with a recorded history spanning more than 1,000 years. The Grade II* listed church received a £20,000 grant for urgent repairs to stonework and gutters.
• St George the Martyr in Southwark, London, designed by John Price in 1735. Grade II listed and on Historic England’s ‘Heritage at Risk’ register. St George the Martyr received a £10,000 grant to help fund new community facilities.  

Claire Walker, CEO of the National Churches Trust, said: 'Over the last four years the National Churches Trust the number of UK churches and chapels applying for our grants has risen substantially, with the number of applications rising from 300 in 2014 to 480 in 2017.

 

'A number of factors have come together to create a tipping point for the future of many church buildings. In 2017 there was particular demand for grants to help repair and replace church roofs. This in part reflects that the roofing of many Victorian churches is simply outliving its lifespan after over 100 years of exposure to the elements.

 

'We are also seeing more churches needing to replace rainwater goods. The intensity of extreme weather patterns, including heavier rainfall and storms, is putting church gutters and drains under strain and systems designed in the past cannot cope.

 

'Looking to the future, the impact of climate change could have a serious impact on the UK’s historic churches. Higher levels of rainfall in the UK, such as the 20% increase seen in Scotland since the 1960s, with more cycles of wetting and drying, will cause damage to timber and stonework. Stronger winds and more frequent storms will threaten roofs, towers and spires.

 

'Climate change is also making the UK ever more vulnerable to invasive pests. The biggest danger for church buildings would be from termites, which are now widespread in France, with infestations being found close to the Channel coast.'

 

(images copyright National Churches Trust. The Annual Review’s cover photo shows Hugh Dennis, with Vice Presidents of the Trust Bettany Hughes, Bill Bryson, Michael Palin and Huw Edwards with Joe Stilgoe at the piano)