English Heritage: £510,000 for London Places of Worship

Heritage Lottery Fund and English Heritage announce £7 million of Grants for Grade II Listed Places of Worship in England

£510,000 for London Places of Worship

English Heritage and the Heritage Lottery Fund have today (Monday 24 May 2010) announced grants of £7m to help with urgent repairs to places of worship across England. Five grade II listed places of worship in the capital will benefit from the organisations’ joint Repair Grants for Places of Worship scheme for grants totalling £510,000.  They are:

Saint Barnabas, Sutton – £82,000. A grade II red brick building, built 1884-91, with stone dressings in Gothic style.  The grant is for repairs to the spire, north valley gutter, rainwater goods alongside repairs to west end gables

All Saints, Cranham, Havering – £26,000 - The medieval church was rebuilt in 1873 to the designs of Richard Armstrong in the decorated style for Richard Benyon, of the adjacent Cranham Hall. Inside the church there is a memorial to General Ogilvy, the founder of Georgia, who also lived at the hall. The church is on the edge of Upminster.  The grant will go towards repairs to the south side of the chancel and nave roofs

St Margarets, Leytonstone, Waltham Forest – £154,000 - A large brick built late gothic church of 1892 by the architects Newman and Jacques in the late Victorian High Anglican tradition. It was constructed to serve the expanding suburban population of Leyton. The church contains a notable collection of baroque oil paintings including those after Murillo and Guido Reni. There is also a series of paintings of the Stations of the Cross by a local artist, A F Prynne.  The first phase of repairs to the south aisle roof were completed last year with grant of £45,000.  This grant is for a second phase of repairs to the roofs of the chancel, Lady Chapel, bell tower, and spire following a recent out break of dry rot.

Church of St John the Evangelist, Penge, Bromley – £62,000 – The church was built in 1849 to the designs of John Nash of Bermondsey in the early English gothic revival style. Subsequently, it was enlarged with aisles in 1861.  There were further enlargements in 1866 with transepts, a lengthened nave, a new chancel and a fine stone spire. These works were in response to an increase in suburban development in the area during the 1860s.  There is a fine window after Burne Jones executed by William Morris & Co in 1910. In the 1960s the building was poorly re-planned, and the parish are keen to return it to its original layout.  The grant will go towards repairs to the roof, rainwater goods and drainage

Memorial Community Church, Plaistow, Newham – £186,000 - The Baptist Church was built 1921-2 to the designs of William Hayne. The building is very large, and constructed in gault and red brick in a byzantine style. It is a prominent building in the suburban setting of Barking Road. The church has been suffering from years of neglect and the congregation have taken the first steps towards its repair.  The grant will go towards masonry repairs.

In total just under £7 million has been announced today to help restore 68 of the country’s historic Grade II listed places of worship of different faiths and denominations across the country.

Nigel Barker, English Heritage’s Head of Regional Partnership, London region, said: “London’s places of worship have huge architectural and historical value and exist as a key component of the capital’s outstanding heritage.  And while places of worship are special to their communities, it can be challenging to keep them in active use.  These grants give the buildings and their congregations the boost needed to carry out vital repair work and so help secure a future.”

Sue Bowers, Head of the Heritage Lottery Fund in London, said:

"Churches are often at the heart of the communities they serve and an important hub for local activities.  Without continued investment for essential maintenance and repair work, precious buildings like these would not survive. The Heritage Lottery Fund and English Heritage have long been working together to protect places of worship in London and today’s announcement of just over £500,000 will make a huge difference.”

Earlier this year, English Heritage and the Heritage Lottery Fund announced £15.7 million for repairs to 154 Grade I and II* places of worship. Added to today’s announcement this means that under the joint Heritage Lottery Fund and English Heritage Repair Grants for Places of Worshipscheme this year, a total of 222 historic places of worship have been offered £22.7 million. The scheme is the largest single funding source for repairs and since it began in 2002 more than £179m of essential grants have been awarded to over 1900 projects around England.

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For further press information please contact Lorraine Calvey, COI London, 020 7261 8872 orLorraine.Calvey@coi.gsi.gov.uk

NOTES FOR EDITORS:

The Repair Grants for Places of Worship in England Scheme is jointly funded by English Heritage (EH) and the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF). The scheme is administered by EH on behalf of both organisations.

In 1996, an HLF scheme was set up in partnership with EH to fund the repair of places of worship of all faiths. Before then it was difficult to secure funding on the scale required to help a place of worship facing closure or demolition because of high repair costs. In February 2010 the HLF and EH announced grants for urgent repair work to Grade I and Grade II* Places of Worship. 154 buildings across England received £15.7 million.

Listed places of worship in England of all denominations are eligible to apply for a grant under theRepair Grants for Places of Worship scheme. The programme supports urgent repairs to the fabric of listed places of worship and priority is given to single repair projects costing less than £250,000. There is a two stage application process with development funding available at Stage 1 to help work up proposals.

English Heritage set to launch Places of Worship as Risk campaign in June

As part of its Heritage at Risk programme, English Heritage is this year focusing on places of worship. English Heritage has been talking to congregations up and down the country and on 30 June will reveal what congregations are most concerned about and publish a practical guide pointing people towards help with maintenance, fundraising, welcoming visitors, widening use, making changes, security and sustainability. It will also release initial findings from a sample survey of the condition of listed places of worship. For further information and to order a free guide, see www.english-heritage.org.uk/powar

Heritage Lottery Fund
Using money raised through the National Lottery, the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) sustains and transforms a wide range of heritage for present and future generations to take part in, learn from and enjoy. From museums, parks and historic places to archaeology, natural environment and cultural traditions, we invest in every part of our diverse heritage.  HLF has supported 33,900 projects, allocating £4.4billion across the UK.  Website: www.hlf.org.uk

Since 1994, HLF has awarded over £478m to more than 4000 projects supporting around 3400 faith-related sites.

English Heritage
English Heritage is the Government’s advisor for the historic environment.  We provide advice on how best to conserve England’s heritage for the benefit of everyone.  Most of England’s heritage is in private hands.  We work with landowners, commerce and industry, planners and developers, national, regional and local government, the Third Sector and local communities to help them conserve the historic environment. We promote public knowledge, understanding and enjoyment of our heritage.

We are also entrusted with the custodianship of some of the most important monuments of human history – such as Stonehenge and Hadrian’s wall.  For further information about our work, please visit www.english-heritage.org.uk

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