Eleven churches from the diocese have benefitted from Historic England grants as part of the government’s Culture Recovery Fund initiative.
St Margaret’s Church, a 13th Century building in the City Centre, was awarded a Heritage Stimulus Grant of £282,520 for major repairs to the tower, as well as a £25,000 grant from the Covid 19 Emergency Heritage at Risk Fund for essential works to the south porch.
Also receiving awards from the Historic England Heritage at Risk Fund were All Saints Theddingworth, All Saints Knipton, Christ Church Smeeton Westerby, St Michael and All Angels Ravenstone, St Egelwin Scalford, St Mary the Virgin Thorpe Arnold, St Margaret Blackfordby, St Michael and All Angles Appleby Magna, St Thomas Catthorpe and St Peter Horninghold.
Bishop of Leicester, Martyn Snow commented that “This news is a great boost to our church communities and their work to ensure that our church buildings remain open for the whole community and provide a visible sign of God’s presence among us.”
Simon Headley, Historic Churches Support Officer for the diocese, added “Church buildings play a significant role in and beyond their immediate community. However, the repair costs of these historic buildings fall primarily upon local congregations, so the grants awarded are an important lifeline, which will enable vital repairs to be carried out. Much hard work behind the scenes has gone into these applications, not least from the dedicated volunteers at each church, so this is a huge encouragement to all concerned.”
In total the grants to the eleven churches from the Diocese amounted to £480,000. News from further funding is awaited.
Photo: St Margarets Church, Leicester