Historic Churches 2023

BCD SPECIAL REPORT ON H ISTOR I C CHURCHE S 30th ANNUAL ED ITION 3 As the funding crisis for churches deepens, the heartbreaking news of more closures continues to be announced on a regular basis. Scotland’s ecclesiastical built heritage faces an enormous challenge with over 1,300 ageing church buildings needing attention. This is at a time when attendance and income, including funding and grants, are declining while all costs soar – heating bills in particular. Difficult decisions are being made to close and sell off buildings, with all sectors of the Church of Scotland affected. Figures have not yet been confirmed but once the Presbytery Planning process is completed, this should be clearer. It is feared around 400 churches may be marked for closure in the next two years, with another 400 to be closed by the end of the decade. While this news is very much doom and gloom, there is a possible light at the end of the tunnel. The General Trustees of the Church of Scotland have this year acknowledged the pain that is being felt by the huge number of closures, although the need to ‘reduce the estate to a size that can be well managed and resourced for the future mission of the church’ still remains. One suggestion being put forward by the trustees is to identify a small number of churches to be recognised as Historic Signature Churches. These are churches which, ‘due to their history and place in public life over many centuries, hold a special place in national life and in their ecclesiastical history.’ The Church of Scotland will look to work with committed congregations to ‘explore with them how their ministry and mission can develop in the years to come’. It is still early days for these proposals, but they hope to work with and utilise the expertise of civic bodies and organisations to develop their thinking and explore financially viable, innovative and sustainable options to help the chosen Historic Signature Churches thrive. CHURCH OF ENGLAND AWARDS £9 MILLION FUNDING HISTORIC CHURCHES GOES DIGITAL Sign up for the new 2024 digital edition of Historic Churches magazine The exciting news from Historic Churches this year is, we are going digital. This is a new development for the publication and marks the end of the printed era for the magazine. Currently the publication reaches most of the professionals involved, but focusing on the digital will enable the publication to reach many more of the smaller parishes and religious communities who are struggling to maintain their grade 1 listed buildings. To register for a digital copy in 2024, please visit www.buildingconservation.com . We will send you a link to the next digital edition as soon as it is available. HOPE FOR SCOTLAND’S CHURCHES Redundant and for sale, the Old High Church in the centre of Inverness is listed category A, with a late 18th century nave, 16th century tower and medieval foundations (Photo: Church of Scotland) In a positive move for struggling parishes, £2.8 million is to be allocated for 30 new church building support officers by the Church Commissioners. These new roles have been created to give specialist advice on the conservation, repair, development and management of church buildings, and their use for worship and by the community. In addition there will be a fund of £6.2 million available to the 41 dioceses for grants, up to £12,000, to help fund urgent church repairs. By focusing on these smaller scale projects alongside ‘stitch-in-time’ repairs, it is hoped this will prevent the need for larger and more costly works in the future. The Victorian gothic revival spire of St Paul’s Church in Brighton, deemed to be in poor condition by Historic England (Photo: Dominic Alves, Flickr)