The Grade II* listed St Andrew’s church, Thursford will be the recipient of a £10,000 National Churches Trust Cornerstone Grant, which will help fund the installation of an accessible toilet; helping the church to better serve its local community.
The Grade I listed All Saints’ church, Beighton will have a £20,000 National Churches Trust Repair Grant to help fund the re-thatching of the roof; making the church watertight and preserving its historic fabric.
Broadcaster and journalist Huw Edwards, Vice President of The National Churches Trust, said:
“The UK’s historic churches and chapels are a vital part of our national heritage. But to survive, many need to carry out urgent repairs and install modern facilities. The cost of this work is far beyond what most congregations can pay for themselves.”
“So I’m delighted that the St Andrew’s church, Thursford, is being helped with a £10,000 National Churches Trust Grant. The work to install an accessible toilet will help the church better serve its community. I’m delighted that the All Saints’ Church, Beighton, is being helped with a £20,000 National Churches Trust Grant. The work on re-thatching the roof will help secure the future of an historic building. Our grant will help to remove the church from the Historic England Heritage at Risk Register.”
St Andrew’s dates back to the 13th Century but was extensively restored in the late 19th Century and contains some notable Victorian stained glass. This includes the east window designed by Albert Moore and described by Pevsner as, “one of the most beautiful of its time in England”.
The project will allow the installation of an accessible toilet in the current vestry and a kitchenette, with associated drainage works.
All Saints’ is a small rural church of the 14th-century, built of flint with stone dressings. The nave roof is thatched with eyebrows over the clerestory windows and is supported by 28 original 14th-century, single-framed scissor braced collar rafters.
Work will re-thatch the church’s nave and repair flint work to the north and south nave walls. Further improvements including installing mains water, an accessible toilet and a kitchenette
In a joint statement the St Andrew’s Parochial Church Council said:
“We are so grateful to National Churches Trust for their offer of a £10,000 grant, which is a huge contribution towards helping us make the church a community facility as well as a centre for services.”
“We raise money regularly for the fabric of the church through well attended concerts and events, but working in a small community, we can only achieve our objectives with the generosity of organisations like the National Churches Trust.”
The Revd Martin Greenland, Rector, and Mrs Ann Adey, churchwarden at All Saints’ church said:
“With the support of the local community, we have been planning, praying and fundraising for this for five years: the National Churches Trust grant is the one which has finally got us over the line. Thank you so much; we are delighted!”
