Historic Churches 2023

2 BCD SPECIAL REPORT ON H ISTOR I C CHURCHE S 30th ANNUAL ED ITION GORDON SORENSEN (1959–2023) Our friend and colleague Gordon Sorensen passed away on 17 August after a short battle with cancer. Gordon is well known throughout the heritage sector as the managing director of Cathedral Communications, the publishing house which he founded in 1993 with Liz Coyle-Camp and Jonathan Taylor. Cathedral’s first publication, The Building Conservation Directory , brought information on conservation technology, traditional materials and heritage specialists to 10,000 people free of charge, transforming access to specialist expertise for thousands of ordinary specifiers and owners of historic buildings. Their second publication was Historic Churches which has been published annually since 1994 to promote the conservation and understanding of some of the UK’s most threatened heritage. Alongside other in-house publications and its website, Cathedral also went on to publish for many other heritage sector organisations, including ASCHB, CIfA, HB&P and IHBC. To launch the company, Gordon gave up a lucrative career as an accountant with Price Waterhouse (PwC as it is now). However, in working for the conservation Gordon Sorensen at work (Photo: Maisie Sorensen) MORE CHURCH BUILDINGS AT RISK Following the publication of Historic England’s Heritage at Risk Register for 2023, 943 places of worship remain on the register, which is approximately 6.4% of all listed places of worship. Worryingly, while there have been 29 removals for positive reasons, 53 have been added this year, meaning the overall number of England’s listed places of worship which are at risk has increased. Places of worship are the only category that have seen an overall increase this year, and it is the category with the highest proportion of listed buildings on the register. Scotland’s At Risk Register is updated on an ongoing basis rather than being published annually, so comparison is difficult, but there are currently 182 historic religious buildings at risk. Eight have been added between 1 April and 21 November this year. Current figures for Wales are unfortunately not available for comparison. Church of Our Lady in Seaton Delaval, Northumberland dates from the early 12 th century and is Grade I listed. Although emergency repairs have been carried out, most recently with help from the Covid-19 Emergency Heritage at Risk Response Fund, the church remains at risk, category C. (Photo: Maria Carballeira © Historic England) and heritage sector, Gordon found a level of satisfaction that had eluded him in the corporate world, and his only regret was handing back the keys to his company car, a sporty red BMW. A keen sportsman, Gordon’s passion and energy was perhaps most obvious on the tennis court and the hockey arena. ‘Gordie’ had grown up in Canada playing ice-hockey. At Queens’ University in Ontario he played for the university team and although he turned down the opportunity to play professionally, he continued to play competitively until his recent illness, latterly for Tidworth Titans inline hockey team where he was one of the principal goal scorers. Gordon was a much-loved pillar of his local community in Tisbury, near Salisbury. He was chair of the local community transport service and treasurer of the medieval St John’s Church. To his friends and family it seems incomprehensible that one who was so fit and with so much energy should have died at just 64, and his absence will be keenly felt by his colleagues throughout the heritage sector, by his teammates, his family, and everyone who knew him.