MEDIA RELEASE COURTESY OF: ENGLISH HERITAGE

Over £15.7 million has been awarded to England's historic places of worship, with West Midlands church awarded the largest amount in England.

English Heritage and the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) have announced more than £15.7 million to support urgent repair work to 154 Grade I and II* listed places of worship across England – with more than £1.9 million to 28 places of worship in the West Midlands.

Herefordshire’s Grade I listed Church of St John the Evangelist has been offered up to £682,000 – the largest amount for 2010 across England under the organisations’ joint Repair Grants for Places of Worship scheme.

On Thursday 18th February, at the Church of St John the Evangelist, Shobdon, Herefordshire, English Heritage and the Heritage Lottery Fund announced grants totalling £1,919,000 to help repair eight listed churches in Herefordshire, seven in Warwickshire, six in Shropshire, four in Worcestershire and three in the West Midlands conurbation.

Nationally, since 2002, £123 million in grants have been awarded to almost 1,300 Grade I and II* historic places of worship through the partnership scheme, which is the largest single source of funds to help congregations to care for historic churches, chapels, synagogues and other historic places of worship.

This enchanting building in Shobdon is one of the most notable Rococo Gothick churches in the country and was built in 1756 by the Hon Richard Bateman of Shobdon, Bateman rebuilt his estate church with only the original church’s fourteenth century tower incorporated into the new building, but now without additional structural support, it faces an immediate risk of partial collapse.

Initial attempts at restoration work have revealed that the unique building faces complex repair challenges. The striking blue and white ornate interior finish is judged to be of greater historic importance than the structure that supports it.

However, unlike many churches, most of its structural timbers are buried behind interior plasterwork and ornamental arches. As a result, repairs have to be carried out from the outside so as not to disturb the interiors.

An initial grant of £25,000 has been awarded by English Heritage to carry out project development works in order to identify what is involved in the entire restoration. This will be followed by a maximum of £657,000 to complete the extensive repair works. The total cost of the repair works is estimated to be in the region of a maximum of £1 million. Work on the repairs to the church is expected to start in 2011.

Tim Johnston, Regional Director for English Heritage in the West Midlands said:

“Places of worship form a priceless part of our region’s heritage and are of great significance to many local communities. Unfortunately the maintenance of this legacy poses some tough challenges, so these grants are vital in boosting fundraising efforts to ensure we all continue to enjoy these remarkable buildings.”

Anne Jenkins, Head of the Heritage Lottery Fund in the West Midlands, said:

“The West Midlands is home to some of the country’s most important and precious places of worship but sustaining them is always a big challenge. We are delighted, in partnership with English Heritage, to be able to offer grant support to twenty-eight of these wonderful structures from all corners of the region, helping to ensure that these magnificent buildings are safeguarded for the future.“

Penny Corbett, speaking on behalf of Shobdon Parochial Church Council, said:

“We are delighted that English Heritage and the Heritage Lottery Fund are able to provide essential support for the repair works of our historic church at Shobdon, and that we have been allocated the scheme’s largest amount of funding in England for 2010! The church forms a very important centre for our community and it is vital that we carry out the major and urgent restoration work to secure the future of this unique Grade I listed building.”