Inspired! Securing a future for historic places of worship

English Heritage 1Waterhouse Square 138-142 Holborn London EC1N 2ST

Design Atelier Works Photography Boris Baggs unless specified Print Route Product code 51220 For Now A new commission for the Inspired! campaign

In the mind’s eye,in the memory-store,for now The church sets sail but stays where it was built, Its anchor hooked into the parish-heart.

In the green yard,in the deep grass,for now Each summer-tide swells up and leaves the dead Untouched inside their plots of tilted earth.

In the flint nave,in the window-shafts,for now The glassy saints grow limber with the sun That ripples through their robes and walk again.

In the blind vault,in the dry hush,for now The coffins hoard their argosies of dust And darkness gleams as definite as light.

In the slow years,in the centuries,for now The villagers arrive to load the ark That saves their lives and settles here as home.

Campaign sponsor Andrew Motion Poet Laureate

Protecting heritage has been our business since we were founded and it continues to be our inspiration.Those responsible for looking after our heritage need more than just an insurance policy. They need advice,guidance and expert knowledge.We're here to give just that.

So we're also enthusiastic about supporting Inspired! and hope Right A Sunday service at temporary tarpaulin ceiling. that it rallies even more much- St Bartholomew’s,Churchdown, needed support. Gloucestershire,under a Contents Introduction 3

Introduction 3 In the 2006 Budget the Government showed it cared about our historic places of worship.Congregations are still celebrating the decision to extend further the Key facts 4 scheme which returns VAT on repairs to these buildings.We still seek a What is the problem? 6 permanent solution to the VAT issue but it’s good to know the politicians care.

Where are the places 8 While VAT refunds are very helpful,the fact is that • Solution 3 Creating a maintenance grants scheme of worship most in need congregation sizes are decreasing,repair costs are to shrink repair bills in the longer term (£2m) and why? rising and the amount of money English Heritage Action Denominations and faiths/English Heritage can offer is falling in real terms.If nothing is done • Solution 4 Maintaining the joint English Heritage/ Solution 1 Making 10 there will be a crisis,not this year,not even next Heritage Lottery Fund Repair Grants Scheme and historic places of worship year,but in the very near future.This campaign is augmenting it with a ‘small grants’scheme fit for purpose in the about tackling the problem before we reach a crisis Action DCMS,the Heritage Lottery Fund and English 21st century and taking action to avoid it. Heritage (£4m) • Solution 5 Making sure the safety nets are in place Solution 2 Helping 12 New research which English Heritage has just for redundant places of worship congregations to help completed shows that although congregations Action DCMS,Churches Conservation Trust,English themselves valiantly manage to raise £67m each year,the Heritage and the Historic Chapels Trust yearly amount actually needed for repair and Solution 3 14 maintenance is £185m.That means there is a And what about you,what can you do about it? Maintenance grants staggering £118m annual shortfall which English Well,firstly take a little time to read this booklet Heritage and other grant-making bodies simply and understand the problem and the proposed Solution 4 Targeting 16 cannot fill and which we cannot realistically expect solutions.Recent surveys have shown that very repair grants Government to pay for. few people are aware that congregations receive so little support.Could you,for example,help by Solution 5 Getting the 18 A five-point plan to tackle the problem doing just one thing from the list on p23? You don’t safety nets in place With the Inspired! campaign English Heritage is have to have religious belief to care about these mounting the most ambitious and strategic buildings – just get involved if you want to see What can 20 attempt yet to address this problem head-on. them stay as part of your community and England’s Government do? • Solution 1 Making our places of worship fit for national heritage. purpose in the 21st century by reforming heritage What can English 21 protection legislation.We are asking Government Heritage do? for a one-off payment of £2.52m to allow us to re-write out-dated list descriptions for all grade I What can denominations 22 listed places of worship. and faiths do? Action Department for Culture Media and Sport (DCMS) with English Heritage and the Church What can the public do? 23 of England We are asking Government for £8m a year for Where congregations 24 three years for the following: can look for help • Solution 2 Helping congregations to help themselves by appointing advisors in denominations Further information 25 to offer support and expertise (£2m) Action Denominations and faiths/English Heritage Simon Thurley Chief Executive,English Heritage Key facts worship to concerts or simply 5 wanting a quiet space.(ORB)

• Parish churches are the most easily • It is estimated that: visited type of historic building There are 16,151 Church of England parish churches in England. • Legally,Church of England Parochial Approximately 13,000 (80%) of Church Councils and Churchwardens these are listed buildings. directly manage,repair and maintain There are 2,765 Catholic parish each of their buildings.This means churches and 700 other Catholic that the buildings are the responsibility churches and chapels open to the of their congregations and local public.625 (18%) of these are communities. listed buildings. The burden of looking after England’s “These are some of the most There are 5,312 Methodist chapels “England’s historic synagogues • Anglican churches falls on 32,000 in England.541 (10%) of these are express the stability of Jewish life in important and beautiful buildings church wardens and 50,000 to in all England,like dear old friends listed buildings. this country,which we are There are 1,115 United Reformed 100,000 secretaries,treasurers and or relatives in our landscape.It is celebrating this year,the350th Churches in England.290 (26%) members of Parochial Church our duty to treat them as such, are listed buildings. year since the re-establishment of Councils,none of whom are paid. with care,love and respect,and There are 1,809 churches within the the Jewish community in England Four rural counties,Lincolnshire, be interested in what they have • Baptist Union Corporation,of which (1656-2006).” Herefordshire,Norfolk and Cumbria, to show us.” 283 (16%) are listed buildings. have 1% of England’s population but Dr Sharman Kadish Jools Holland There are 30 listed synagogues Musician Director of Jewish Heritage UK 12% of England’s grade I listed in England. Anglican churches. There is one purpose built mosque listed so far,the grade II* Shah Jehan • One quarter of listed Methodist Mosque in Oriental Road,Woking chapels have a registered membership and several others now in historic of 15 or fewer. buildings listed for other reasons. • In 2005 46% of the population thought 4,200 Church of England parish central taxation,local taxation,the churches are grade I listed.This National Lottery or English Heritage constitutes 45% of all grade I should be primarily responsible for listed buildings. funding the maintenance of church • Surveys in 2003 and 2005 showed buildings.(ORB 2005) that 86% of the population visited a place of worship in the previous 12 Left page St Michael’s,Byker, This page All Saints,Beckingham, Newcastle and Crypt of St Mary Lincolnshire and Egerton Road months,for reasons ranging from Magdalene,Paddington,London. Synagogue,London. 6 What is the problem?

Our research shows that: • The cost of repairs needed far outweighs the current spend • Sources of funding to bridge the gap are dwindling • The need is escalating at an alarming rate

What is currently being spent and how meet the shortfall.It is equally unrealistic to expect is it raised? congregations to double their current fundraising The Church of England has responsibility for 80% efforts,nor should the burden fall solely on their of all listed places of worship in England.Of the shoulders.Places of Worship are enjoyed and £101m it spent on repairs in 2003,about £40m used by far wider communities than just regular came from grants and around £60m came from attendees.The general public should help to bear worshippers.For other denominations and some of the costs,too. faiths,we can currently only estimate a repair bill of £10m on their listed places of worship,with The overall figure of £925m over five years is not around £3m coming from grants and £7m a backlog figure that could in some way be cleared from congregations. once and for all.Thousands of ageing,complex historic buildings will continue to be expensive to Together then,England’s congregations are repair and maintain.So instead of trying to fund an heroically raising about £67m a year,or 60% of increasingly large repair bill,we must instead try to the total expenditure.But many essential repairs shrink the problem.English Heritage believes we are being over-looked,or their costs vastly can greatly reduce the annual repair bill of £185m underestimated. provided the Government gives us £8m.This is how we propose it should be spent: What is the real need? • £2m a year for annual maintenance grants distributed New research by English Heritage reveals that through the denominations for those congregations if all the necessary repairs to England’s listed least able to fund this work themselves. places of worship were properly assessed the estimated cost would be £925m over the • £750,000 a year to half-fund 15 Historic Places next five years,or £185m each year. of Worship Support Officers who,working in the denominations,would support and advise congregations on how to look after their building. On the existing funding basis,English Heritage, the Heritage Lottery Fund and other grant making • £1.25m a year to run regular training programmes bodies would need to find £74m and for those 15 officers,as well as local authorities and congregations the remaining £111m.But,as we congregations.This would also fund strategic building know,the congregations already struggle to raise audits,better guidance and training for congregations £67m (£60m by Church of England congregations, on writing statements of significance. £7m by congregations in other denominations and faiths),so the shortfall is actually more like £118m. • £4m a year to start a grants scheme for smaller repairs not eligible under the current English Who should pay and how? Plastic sheeting protects the organ Heritage/Heritage Lottery Fund Repair Grants from leaking water at Holy It is unrealistic to expect the Government alone to for Places of Worship scheme. Innocents,Thornhill Lees,Yorkshire. 8 Where are the places of worship most in need and why? Churches in need by Church of England diocese 9

The burden of repairing and maintaining a place of worship weighs more heavily 0-13 churches in need Blackburn on some than on others.In order to help target resources,English Heritage is Bradford Bristol working to understand the factors which make a building hard to manage and to Durham Leicester find out where the buildings most in need are and why. Liverpool Portsmouth What makes a place of worship in need? Rochester repairs that would cost over £50,000 and 10 times Salisbury • The age of the building In urban areas particularly, more than they spent on the building that year. Wakefield places of worship are likely to have been built during a relatively short period in the 19th century and the There is one kind of pressure not indicated 14-26 churches in need Birmingham stonework,the slates and leadwork on the roofs are by this map.The expansion of towns and cities to Canterbury therefore wearing out simultaneously after around engulf surrounding villages means that some small Carlisle Chester 150 years’exposure to weather and pollution. churches are now bursting at the seams.There is Coventry huge pressure to enlarge or replace these buildings. Derby Exeter • Demographic changes Both urban and rural Gloucester areas have seen dramatic changes in the size This sort of exercise cannot account for the Guildford and composition of their populations since their individual circumstances of every parish,which are Hereford Lincoln historic places of worship were built.These hidden beneath the statistics.It cannot tell us about Newcastle changes,along with the general decline in the levels of energy and commitment of local Peterborough Ripon & Leeds traditional religious observance,mean that some people who often achieve extraordinary things. St Albans very small congregations are now responsible Southwell Winchester for some very big buildings. What it can do is point us in the direction of those areas of the country likely to benefit most from 27-39 churches in need • Lack of supportThere are far fewer clergy than in maintenance schemes,from dedicated support Bath & Wells the past and they often have several buildings in officers and from a strategic approach to historic Chelmsford Chichester their care.Yet looking after historic buildings is not places of worship. Lichfield necessarily part of their vocation and they are not Manchester

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specifically trained to do it.In rural areas the loss of Southwark t r a p

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“At my time of life,I’m rather keen on t s i not just of the help that they and their employees t a t S d n

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40-42 churches in need h c r a e

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a far more popular cause is the salvation R , l St Edmundsbury & Ipswich i • Lack of money Most places of worship are funded c n u

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Department,we have estimated the number of Actor r C parishes that in 2003 had outstanding necessary © 10 Solution 1 Making historic places of worship fit for purpose Making it simpler to make changes 11 in the 21st century The aim of our pilot projects is to ensure that the “We set about rediscovering our church Government’s current proposals work in harmony with the existing ‘ecclesiastical exemption’system. history and asking what St Martin's is At Taunton,we are concentrating on how to make for.It's an experience many churches go “Generally the best way of securing the upkeep of historic buildings is to keep them it simpler for congregations to carry out basic through when facing major change. in active use” (Government Planning Policy Guidance 15,section 3.8). repairs to churches by highlighting where the two systems – the Church’s ‘faculty’and the secular When we began,we thought it might be English Heritage supports the efforts of congregations to keep their historic controls – overlap and exploring ways of reducing a distraction from our very practical place of worship in use wherever possible. the time and resources churches have to spend on completing repeat applications. work of caring for people in need. The best way to secure their future is if they can Actually it's intensified what we do and remain living buildings at the heart of communities, “Evensong…when only two or three are We are also exploring how to develop visited,valued and enjoyed by all.As with any other partnerships between all the bodies who get how we pray day to day. Renewing the listed building,a balance has to be struck between gathered in My Name,in a hamlet or involved in changes to churches,the individual buildings has taught us about what it changing patterns of use and protecting the special village,is one of the times I feel closest to church itself,deaneries,dioceses,the Council for means for this place to be 'the house of architectural and historic interest for which the Heaven.I discovered this over 50 years the Care of Churches,local authorities,amenity building has been listed. societies and English Heritage,to encourage the Lord' and for us to be God's people.” ago when I was a history student.” planning ahead and a positive rather than reactive Places of Worship and the proposed new approach to managing the building. Revd Nicholas Holtam system of heritage protection Rabbi Lionel Blue Vicar of St Martin-in-the-Fields in London which The Church of England document Building Faith in Statements of Significance is undergoing major new works Our Future laid down a series of challenges,one of All Church of England and Methodist which was the importance of modernising the the current list descriptions to explain what makes congregations applying to carry out changes need Church’s building stock and making best use of it. churches like St Mary’s,Taunton (pictured opposite), to include a ‘Statement of Significance’and a so special.The entries will go beyond the scope of ‘Statement of Need’,a justification for the change, English Heritage wants to play a full part in helping old designation documents and include new with their application.A Statement of Significance is the Church to meet this challenge and is working research,an historical as well as architectural not just a description of the church in architectural with it to explore how the appreciation and appraisal,an archaeological understanding of the or artistic terms,but also an assessment of what is management of historic churches and churchyards site,an assessment of fixtures and fittings,and a considered significant by the congregation.The can be improved as part of the Government’s consideration of the churchyard setting. new list descriptions will be a significant help in reform of the heritage protection system,which preparing these. covers listing,scheduling and registering. The new descriptions will clarify which parts of these buildings are adaptable for new uses and As part of Inspired! English Heritage will be offering Pilot projects to test a new approach are which parts are less so.They will help congregations additional help to congregations to write effective underway at Canterbury and Rochester both in the formulation of plans for the future and Statements of Significance.From 10 May a list of Cathedrals and at a group of churches in the in managing change as it happens. useful contacts and sources of information for Taunton Deanery within the Bath and Wells writing Statements of Significance will be available Diocese.Another is planned with a group of at www.english-heritage.org.uk/inspired!We are also rural churches in the Lincolnshire Wolds. Extending this approach to all listed churches asking for new money from Government to ‘train is a great challenge – and also a priority for trainers’around the country,who can help Building understanding English Heritage.A good start would be to congregations enjoy learning about their place We strongly believe that a clear and precise re-write the list descriptions for all 4,200 of worship,write good-quality Statements and understanding of why a listed church is so grade I listed places of worship (often the communicate this knowledge of their buildings important is essential in order to make sensible hardest buildings to change sensitively).We to all who visit. and realistic management decisions. estimate that this would cost in the region of £2.52m and are asking Government for a For further information on ecclesiastical exemption St Mary’s,Taunton,one of 20 The Taunton Deanery pilot project,now underway one-off payment to cover this. and on how to gain consent for changes visit churches involved in the Taunton in the Bath and Wells Diocese,involves revising denominational websites (listed on p25). Heritage Protection pilot project. Solution 2 Helping congregations to help themselves 12 important to lose,those which must be made a piece of architecture in a dramatic setting but poorly 13 priority for repairs,those which might accommodate maintained for many years.With help from English new uses and those which might be sold without Heritage and others they have just finished the first serious consequences for their heritage value. phase of repairs that will total about £800,000!

English Heritage has funded two pilot audits with I work closely with English Heritage on training and the Catholic Church and one with the Church of guiding parishes through the grant process.This kind England.From these we have developed a generic of role is a model of effective partnership between template for all denominations and faith groups to English Heritage and the Church of England.It is in use.This is now available at www.english- the vanguard of national policy but I believe strongly heritage.org.uk/inspired! With new Government that it is the way of the future.” funding we could part-fund many more such audits.

Tim Hatton: “I am a Historic Church Buildings Officer (HCBO) employed by the Church of England to help parishes in Manchester to care for their churches.My post is half-funded by English Heritage.

Most congregations do not have the specialist skills necessary to look after an historic church and,in the k r

o past,the maintenance of some important churches w t e

N has been left undone,or perhaps worse,well-meaning s w e

N volunteers have carried out poor repairs that have t n e m

n done more harm than good.Often what a r e v o

G congregation needs is someone to come alongside them and accompany them on their restoration journey.This kind of post liberates priests and English Heritage appreciates that viewing an historic building as an asset rather congregations from the anxiety of being solely than a burden is easier said than done when water is dripping through a damaged responsible for a listed church. roof,the drains are blocked and no-one is quite sure what to do or where to The project that has given me the most satisfaction go for help. has been the restoration of St Stephen & All Martyrs church in Oldham (right).When I first saw the building To tackle this problem,we are encouraging at the beginning of 2004,it had stood empty for five denominations to create dedicated Historic Places We are asking the Government for £750,000 years and was a derelict eyesore.The congregation of Worship Support Officers to advise congregations. a year for three years to fund 15 new full-time worshipped in the nearby school.Since then,an Support Officers.We are also asking for £1.25m English Heritage/Heritage Lottery Fund Repair Grant We have already created and funded three such to run training programmes for these officers has transformed the situation.Roof and timber posts,in London,Manchester (see opposite) and as well as local authorities and congregations. repairs are nearly finished and the church will reopen Exeter Church of England dioceses,as pilots.The this summer. experiences have shown these to have been very helpful and so we want to create more around the Where to start? The biggest repair project that I have helped with is country,at both regional and national level.The first We believe that the best foundation for a Support at Holy Trinity,the historic parish church in the small task for these Support Officers will be to Officer is an audit of the historic or architectural town of Shaw,on the edge of the Pennines,a fine understand where the repair priorities are and significance of the buildings in a diocese or area. then to help individual congregations to make This would assess the relative merits of all that Opposite Members of the the most of their buildings.These new posts denomination’s buildings.Then well-informed Egerton Road Synagogue, need to be tailored to fit local needs. choices can be made about those which are too Stamford Hill,London. 14 Solution 3 Maintenance grants The Diocese of London is undertaking a pilot study 15 in the City of London to look at the benefits of a centralised gutter clearance service so that the gutters on all churches in the Diocese,as well as vicarages and church halls,are cleared twice a year. “Laziness lets the roof leak,and soon the rafters begin to rot.”Ecclesiastes 10:18 The Parochial Church Council We employ a contractor to clear the gutters,down Congregations are by no means lazy.Many are raising the funds to spend on the pipes,hoppers and check the drains.Whilst on the members of a grade II listed church in basic maintenance that’s needed to avoid huge repair bills in the future,but too roof the contractor also undertakes emergency repair a windswept area of West Yorkshire many do not know where to begin. work such as fixing slipped slates. A simple checklist have learnt the importance of and digital photos are used to show the condition of the roof and gutters – even in hard-to-reach places. maintenance the hard way.In 2001 a This provides good information about what repairs routine inspection report advised “Church spires are the great punctuation are required. the PCC to repair their roof hatch so points of the English countryside.But the that twice-yearly inspections could The initial pilot scheme has been such a great success religious buildings of this country not only that we are now going to set up a centralised project be carried out.This would have cost tell where we are geographically,they tell for the whole Diocese of London. We are very grateful £400 but the advice was not for English Heritage’s support.” us where we’ve come from.They’re often followed. Ensuing rain damage cost the only place in a community which has a living,visible connection to the past. Half of the Anglican churches involved in one English Heritage part-funded maintenance They hot-wire us into our history.” pilot were found not to have done any maintenance in the previous year,and some Jeremy Paxman Broadcaster and journalist not for 10 years.

St Edmundsbury.In both,the diocese creates a A Stitch in Time scheme for individual parishes to subscribe to but in St Edmundsbury,there are five local contractors The Parochial Church Council members of a working to a specification with a previously grade II listed church in a windswept area of tendered price.They clear gutters,down-pipes and West Yorkshire have learnt the importance of drains and write a brief report on further work maintenance the hard way.In 2001 a routine they think needs to be done so that the parish can inspection report advised the PCC to repair alert their architect or surveyor. their roof hatch so that twice-yearly inspections could be carried out.This would We are also strongly supporting the Society for the have cost £400 but the advice was not Protection of Ancient Buildings’proposed training followed. Ensuing rain damage cost £30,000 With £2m a year for three years from seminars for volunteer maintenance workers. to repair. Government,English Heritage will start a new maintenance grants programme,initially Peter Aiers Project Development Manager, Happily,the church is now adopting a 10-year helping those congregations least able to Diocese of London: maintenance plan so that such costly mistakes fund maintenance themselves. can be avoided in future. “As each parish in the Church of England is responsible Happily,the church is now adopting a for the upkeep of its own church building there has 10-year maintenance plan so that We are testing this approach by part-funding been a large variety of approaches to maintenance, from doing absolutely nothing to having a strict Far LeftsuchSt Bartholomew’s, costly mistakesAbove canSt Gregory’s be avoided Roman maintenance trials in two Church of England Churchdown,Gloucestershire. Catholic Church,Cheltenham. dioceses – those of London (see right) and maintenance regime in place. Left Peterin future Aiers,Diocese. of London. 16 Solution 4 Targeting repair grants St Werburgh, Hoo St Werburgh, Kent 17

The joint English Heritage/Heritage Lottery Fund Repair Grants for Places The Domesday Book records a of Worship scheme is the largest single source of funds for repairs to listed church on this very exposed remote places of worship in England and gives out £25m per year.The scheme is site on the edge of the North Kent 100% over-subscribed. marshes and the oldest part of the present building is the Norman tower. English Heritage’s funding from Government has Grants in the future remained static and so have our grant schemes. The church’s real glory though is its The Heritage Lottery Fund’s allocation from the English Heritage and the Heritage Lottery 13th century spire. Lottery has also declined and,though it continues Fund want to continue to run the RGPOW to help places of worship with its other grant scheme jointly as it is the only budget big In the 1990s,the wooden shingles on the spire schemes,between us we are helping fewer enough to make the really major repair started to curl,slip and split.This allowed water congregations each year. projects happen.The average grant is now into the interior and could easily have led to dry nearly £74,000.We are both committed to rot,deathwatch beetle infestation and structural Building price inflation means that the £25m worth running the scheme until March 2008,but its problems.Despite valiant fundraising attempts, of grant we offered in 2002/03 would need to be future depends on the Government giving the cost of repairing the spire was far beyond the increased to at least £29m in 2006/07 to buy the English Heritage enough grant-in-aid and means of the small congregation,65% of whom are same amount of repair work. maintaining the Heritage Lottery Fund budget retired.In 1997 English Heritage and the Heritage too – and of course more money would be Lottery Fund stepped in with a grant of £130,000 The £25m per year which the Government,via the very welcome! towards total costs of £200,000. Repair Grants for Places of Worship (RGPOW) scheme,makes available is not a vast amount in an However,our recent Fabric Needs Survey The spire is now in good condition but other age when a single footballer’s transfer fee costs just revealed that 57% of the inspected places of parts of the church need urgent attention.The as much. worship required repairs costing £50,000 or north aisle roof was damaged during the War and less over the next five years and 37% needed patched up cheaply with a reinforced concrete slab repairs costing £30,000 or less.These smaller covered with asphalt.The asphalt is now splitting “Not only are our parish churches and repairs are unlikely to be eligible for the and allowing water to leak through.English existing RGPOW scheme but are still beyond Heritage and the Heritage Lottery Fund have this cathedrals an aesthetic feast spread out many congregations’budgets and will year given a further grant of £107,000 so that the across the land.They are also a subversive inevitably be put off when other more congregation can assess and then repair the achievable projects arise. damage.The parish’s fundraising plans to meet the challenge to our contemporary viewpoint. total project costs of £178,000 include musical They are embodiments in stone,wood We are therefore asking Government for an events,a car rally,a quiz and a barbecue.St extra £4m a year for three years to start a Werburgh is now thriving under the inspiring and glass,of our ancestors and their way grants scheme to help those congregations leadership of the Reverend Andy Harding. of viewing the world.A few quiet minutes most in need to carry out smaller repairs.We will be working with the denominations and in an empty church can often make our faiths to make sure the scheme is carefully English Heritage spends one third of its way of viewing things seem foolish or targeted and simple to run.With this extra annual grants budget on repair grants for £4m,we think we should be able to double listed places of worship each year (£1m on trivial compared with theirs.” the number of repair projects we can support cathedrals and £10m on other places of each year. worship) but this only helps about 2% of the A.N.WilsonWriter nation’s 14,500 listed places of worship. Solution 5 Getting the safety nets in place Bethesda 18 Friends of Friendless Churches (FFC) is a small charity 19 set up in 1957 to save disused places of worship of Methodist Chapel architectural and historic interest from demolition, decay and unsympathetic conversion.The FFC has already helped to save 100 churches and chapels in What happens when worship stops? England and Wales,accepting direct responsibility, The Bethesda Methodist Chapel, A charitable trust takes the building on by ownership,for 38.For every building that the Stoke-on-Trent closed for worship • FFC is able to take into care,there are two more •The place of worship is converted to another use which they have to decline through lack of resources. in 1985 and was taken on by the •The building is demolished Historic Chapels Trust.A £2.5m Conversion repair scheme funded by English Although the 2001 census revealed that 72% of the population said they were Christian and in a Since 1969,958 Anglican parish churches Heritage,the Heritage Lottery Home Office Citizenship Survey four out of five have been converted for other uses.These Fund,the HCT and Bethesda people expressed a ‘religious affiliation’,the uses include: Friends is in progress. number of active worshippers has fallen.The Church of England alone has lost almost two Community use 245 million since 1990 and demographic changes have Residential 223 left some areas with more places of worship than the remaining community can support.So what Preserved as monuments by local happens to these buildings? authorities or local trusts 138 121

e Worship (by other denominations/faiths) g a t • More than 10% of Church of England churches i r e

H 36 h

s Storage have been made redundant since 1969,the i l g n majority in the first decade.The Church of England E Arts and crafts 38 predicts that redundancies will continue at the current rate of 25-30 a year but anecdotal Light industry 62

evidence suggests this could rise sharply in English Heritage is calling on Government t 27 s u

Private chapels r T s the near future. to re-inflate funding of the Churches l e p a

24 h • The Methodist Church saw 532 closures Conservation Trust as the main safety net for Educational C c i r o t s from 1992 to 2001 and 289 closures redundant Church of England buildings which i 16 H Museum e h t between 2002 and 2005. are too architecturally and historically f o y s e

10 t • Since the Survey of the Jewish Built Heritage began important to be deconsecrated. Part of an estate r u o c e in 1996,20 synagogues have closed. r u 13 t c Sports i P The main charitable trusts The Historic Chapels Trust (HCT) Other 5 The Churches Conservation Trust (CCT) The HCT was established in 1993 to take on Since 1969 a total of 336 redundant Anglican non-Anglican places of worship of outstanding “I salute English Heritage for parish churches have been handed to the CCT,a architectural and historic interest including non- Demolition charity which receives funding from both the conformist chapels,Roman Catholic churches Of the 1,700 Church of England parish churches highlighting the threat to the fabric Government and Church Commissioners.Since and synagogues. which have been made redundant since 1969,374 of our landscape once again.What 2001,the Trust's funds have been frozen,yet in this have been demolished. same period it has been given responsibility for would we rather have at the end of another 12 churches,most with big repair bills.As a English Heritage has increased central funding Two pre-war synagogues have been demolished in our street,a church or a boarded up result the CCT is exploring the possibility of for the Historic Chapels Trust by £30,000 a England since 1997 including one this year – the ‘mothballing’some of its churches until new year for the next three years.We will also be Birmingham Progressive Synagogue built in 1938. lot? I know what my answer is.” sources of funding can be found.English Heritage is increasing our maintenance grants to the Above leftThe Orthodox Cathedral The building was formerly an Griff Rhys Jones supporting the CCT in such areas as education Trust by £56,000 over the next two years. of the Dormition of the Mother of Anglican parish church and was Television presenter and marketing. God and All Saints,listed grade II*. adapted for Orthodox worship. What can Government do? Give English Heritage the money to What can English • • Champion the country’s historic 21 help the denominations tackle the Heritage do? places of worship problem properly: • Help the denominations and faiths A one-off payment of £2.52m to make their historic buildings fit for enable us to re-write out-dated list purpose for the 21st century descriptions for all grade I listed places of worship in England;and • Offer new grants to enable congregations to help themselves, £8m a year for three years for the especially through Historic Places following: of Worship Support Officers £2m annual maintenance grants • Lobby government for a grants via denominations to the scheme for small repairs for which congregations most in need there is currently no provision £750,000 to half-fund 15 Places • Continue to work with the of Worship Support Officers denominations to establish where £1.25m to run regular training outside support is most needed and programmes for these Support help them link up to new sources of Officers and for local authorities support and expertise and congregations,to fund • Help the different faiths and strategic buildings surveys and denominations to think strategically to produce better guidance about their building stock and plan £4m for a grants scheme for for the future repairs too small to qualify for the • Give more practical guidance on existing EH/HLF Repair Grants for alterations and repairs Places of Worship Scheme • Help local authorities to understand • Establish a permanent means to the needs of historic places of relieve listed places of worship of the worship burden of VAT on all their repairs • Help congregations understand what • Ensure that the Heritage Lottery is special about their place of Fund can continue its commitment worship so that they can make better to funding places of worship informed choices about changes • Re-inflate its funding for the Churches Conservation Trust Opposite St John’s, Middlesborough Left St Mary the Virgin,Gissing,Norfolk. What can denominations What can the public do? • See their historic buildings as real Get involved! 23 and faiths do? assets to their core mission,rather Anyone who cares about the future than as expendable burdens of these buildings as part of our heritage needs to find out how they • Give more active support to congregations can help their local place of worship – we shouldn’t expect small • Find the matching funds to take up congregations to do it all for us. English Heritage grants for Historic Consider paying a small amount for Places of Worship Support Officers • the upkeep of your local place of and for survey and training initiatives worship each year or making a • With English Heritage help,establish donation to a national charity that what is special about each of their cares for places of worship historic buildings to inform strategic Give your time and expertise. decisions and the changes needed to • Whether you are an accountant,a give them a future fundraiser,a PR guru or an architect, a • Consider other wider community few hours of your time could make all uses where the building can the difference to a struggling accommodate them congregation.Or join the rota to mow the grass or dust the furniture! • Keep encouraging congregations to carry out regular maintenance • Support your local County Historic Churches Trust.There are 31 of these in England.They are all registered charities which give grants to historic Christian churches and chapels in use.They organise a Sponsored Bike Ride in September each year. www.historicchurches.org.uk • Create a Friends group to support your local place of worship,to encourage wider community interest and to fundraise for repairs • Find out more by exploring the work of some of the specialist groups and

LeftThe Vicar of Holy Trinity, Hoxton,London,a late Georgian societies listed at Queensbury,Yorkshire. church repaired in 1996,now a www.english-heritage.org.uk/inspired! Opposite St John the Baptist, beacon for the community. Where congregations can look for help 24 Further information

Being responsible for the repair and maintenance of a listed place of worship If you would like more information on any of the Five Solutions described in can be a daunting task.What can you do if building costs are spiralling and this booklet,please contact English Heritage’s Places of Worship team on worshippers are getting fewer? Here are just a few practical ideas you may 020 7973 3267, email [email protected] or visit the campaign find useful. website at www.english-heritage.org.uk/inspired!

Think hard! Pace the project What English Heritage already does for Methodist Church Historic Chapels Trust Gather a team together. Are you making the best Don’t always try to do everything at once.Get the places of worship Central Buildings Takes into its care redundant non- Oldham Street Anglican places of worship in use of the building? Might there be other groups or building stable,weather-tight and sustainable,but Manchester M1 1JQ England of architectural interest. activities that could benefit from sharing this leave room for the project to evolve. Apart from giving grants,we advise on Tel 0161 236 5194 St George's German Lutheran Email Church wonderful but expensive space? 55 Alie Street applications for alterations,issue guidance [email protected] London E1 8EB on everything from incorporating new www.methodist.org.uk Talk locally Tel 020 7481 0533 facilities to conserving stained glass,dealing Email “With a mere glimpse of a church spire United Reformed Church [email protected] Share your problem with local community with bats,protection against lightning and www.hct.org.uk organisations.It might be a perfect opportunity or tower in the landscape,my spirits are Church House the handling and reburial of human remains. 86 Tavistock Place for them. Voluntary organisations,local or national Historic Churches sent soaring,huzzahing hymns of praise We organise,with the Civic Trust,the annual London WC1H 9RT Preservation Trust Tel government initiatives,education bodies,private Heritage Open Days in which hundreds of 020 7916 2020 A charity founded in 1953 and sector projects and other faith groups all need at the sight,with the certain knowledge Email [email protected] the leading body dedicated to places of worship take part,we run projects www.urc.org.uk preserving parish churches. space for their activities. that an adventure of discovery is to be to involve young people and people of 31 Newbury Street different religious and cultural backgrounds London EC1A 7HU Involve your organisation relished within its walls.For one whose Tel 020 7600 6090 life is largely spent thundering around in these buildings,and we have a vast public Trusts Email [email protected] Your denomination or faith group will be familiar archive of images of places of worship. www.historicchurches.org.uk with your situation. It should be able to offer Churches Conservation Trust Britain’s roads,wailing with despair at Jewish Heritage UK advice,and may sometimes be able to help Set up to care for Church of England Forthcoming English Heritage books include Dedicated to caring for the historic plastic developments,these invariably churches no longer needed for financially with loans or grants.They will also know Jewish Heritage in England:An Architectural buildings,sites and collections of parish use. Britain’s Jewish community. when and how to involve English Heritage. beautiful architectural beacons are Guide A Glimpse of Heaven:Catholic 1West Smithfield and Dr Sharman Kadish Church Architecture in England and Wales. London EC1A 9EE Jewish Heritage UK often the lone,and always exhilarating, Tel Contact your council’s Conservation Officer 020 7213 0660 P. O.Box 193 Email [email protected] Keeping historic buildings in good condition,alive element of continuity that link us with Manchester M13 9HZ www.visitchurches.org.uk Tel 0161 275 3611 and useful is their job and they will also know when our historic past.Walk through any church Denominations and faith groups Email to call in English Heritage. Friends of Friendless [email protected] door – from Banff down to Bognor and Baptist Union of Great Britain Church of England Churches www.jewish-heritage-uk.org Visit other places of worship Baptist House 29 Great Smith Street Set up in 1957 to save disused but Norwich across to Newquay – and you PO Box 44 Westminster beautiful old places of worship of Open Churches Trust Talk to people,including those in other 129 Broadway London SW1P 3PS architectural and historic interest Founded by Andrew Lloyd Webber will be enveloped by that past,whilst Tel to promote the opening of locked denominations or faith groups,who have been Didcot 020 7898 1886 from demolition,decay and Oxfordshire OX11 8RT Email [email protected] unsympathetic conversion. places of worship. rejoicing in its miraculous survival. Brigadier Adam Gurdon in the same position as you are now. Tel 01235 517700 www.cofe.anglican.org/about/ Matthew Saunders The Open Churches Trust Email [email protected] builtheritage/buildingfaith Friends of Friendless Churches Whereas all other buildings have changed 22 Tower Street www.baptist.org.uk St Ann's Vestry Hall Investigate funding London WC2H 9TW Churches Main Committee 2 Church Entry hands over the years,the house of God Tel 020 7240 0880 For repairs,first ask your English Heritage regional Catholic Church in England Representing all the major Christian London EC4V 5HB Email [email protected] office for information about our joint grant scheme has not.” and Wales denominations. Tel 020 7236 3934 Email with the Heritage Lottery Fund. For new facilities, 39 Eccleston Square 1 Millbank For information on the architecture ask your local council about any regeneration Lucinda Lambton London SW1V 1BX London SW1P 3JZ office@friendsoffriendlesschurches. and history of places of worship and Tel 020 7630 8220 Tel 020 7898 1861 / 1878 org.uk contact details for amenity soceities grants in your area and they should know who else Photographer,writer and broadcaster Email [email protected] Email [email protected] www.friendsoffriendlesschurches. and professional groups please see you could contact regionally. www.catholic-ew.org.uk www.cmainc.org.uk org.uk www.english-heritage.org.uk/inspired!