Historic Churches 2023

6 BCD SPECIAL REPORT ON H ISTOR I C CHURCHE S 30th ANNUAL ED ITION fund urgent repairs to gutters, masonry and plaster. And the Grade I listed Newport Minster on the Isle of Wight, carried out urgent roof and stonework thanks to a £584,000 grant. The generosity of the government is to be greatly welcomed. But, as with the UK-wide Listed Places of Worship Roof Repair Fund introduced by Chancellor George Osborne, two rounds of which provided £55 million of grants from 2015 to 2016, there is no guarantee of this level of support being provided again. Such stop-start funding makes it very difficult for the church building sector to plan ahead. Although not proactive funding, the Listed Places of Worship Grants Scheme deserves many plaudits. Introduced by Chancellor Gordon Brown in 2001, this allows listed churches to reclaim the VAT on church repairs. Without this, repair costs would be inflated by 20 per cent. Each year, over £20 million is paid back to churches through this scheme, which is guaranteed until 2025. Other heritage buildings eye this tax refund with admiration and would dearly like it to be more widely available. But should that happen, it must not be at the cost of places of worship. THE NATIONAL LOTTERY The final piece of the statutory bodies funding jigsaw comes through the National Lottery Heritage Fund (NLHF). This took over the grant funding of places of worship from English Heritage in 2013 and until 2017 ran the Places of Worship Grants Scheme. This was of great benefit to churches and other places of worship as it was ringfenced money. But since this scheme was cancelled, churches have had to compete with a wide range of other heritage and cultural bodies for lottery funding which often submit very persuasive funding bids written by professional fundraisers. As a result funding for local parish churches from the NLHF has fallen significantly. There are however signs that the NLHF is starting to take the needs of places of worship more acutely, and has addressed the issue in its new strategy published earlier this year. One positive sign is Cherish, a new three year support scheme for churches in Scotland, Wales and the north west of England which will be run by the National Churches Trust with £1.9 million of lottery fund support. UK VARIATIONS Although I have written from an English perspective, the same mix of funding by congregations, statutory bodies and philanthropic trusts broadly applies in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. However, the various devolved administrations and their heritage bodies may in general terms have less funding available. The financial situation in Scotland is particularly pressing, with the Church of Scotland warning that its general funds will be exhausted by 2026–2027. At present around 60,000 people worship in person every Sunday, while online worship, as with other denominations, has led to some reduction of in person worship. The combination of falling congregation sizes and a shortage of money is jeopardising the future of many of the church’s 1,000 buildings, many of which are of historic significance. Throughout the UK there are of course differences between denominations. The Methodist Church has in recent years closed many of its smaller churches and re-invested monies in larger churches. The Church of England has recently started to put some of its central funding into church building as part of a Strategic Development plan. The only caveat here is that some of this funding may be more aligned with priorities for mission, rather than for heritage. Locally, dioceses tend not to put any of their money into church buildings although this is criticised by organisations such as Save the Parish who say that more diocesan money should be spent locally on funding stipends and buildings. OTHER SOURCES In some cases, individual CofE churches can levy Chancel Repair Liability on local home owners. But this last vestige from the era of tithing (not actually removed from the statute book until 1977) is rarely levied and nowadays paid through household insurance policies rather than directly by homeowners. One final source of funding to mention is the Landfill Communities Fund. This is a tax credit scheme enabling operators of landfill sites in England and Northern Ireland to contribute money to organisations including, in some areas, places of worship. The thought arises that a small part of the record profits of utility companies (sometimes spoken of as ‘excess’ profits) could be earmarked for the funding of historic churches. LOOKING AHEAD With more church closures predicted, is this patchwork of funding suitable and sufficient for the future? In the words of my successor as chairman, Sir Philip Rutnam, churches are the biggest challenge faced by the UK heritage sector today. There are over 900 on the latest Historic England Heritage At Risk Register. The repair bill for the Church of England’s buildings over the next five years is believed to be over £1 billion and the backlog is growing by some £75 million a year. In Scotland more than 500 churches are now set to be sold off by the Church of Scotland. We know just how valuable the UK’s 39,000 churches are. From the wool churches of Suffolk to the mountain chapels of Wales, they are among the most priceless heritage treasures we have. And they are at the centre of every community, also providing vital services like food banks and toddler groups. Our work shows they contribute over £55 billion every year to the UK’s society and economy and they remain essential to the future of humans flourishing. To meet the challenge of keeping as many churches as possible open and in good repair, a strategic national plan is needed. A plan that includes more funding so that as many of these wonderful historic buildings can be kept open, thrilling us with their history and heritage, providing Christian worship and serving local people through a multitude of community support and service. LUKE MARCH is past chair of the National Churches Trust and Canon Emeritus of Salisbury Cathedral. To meet the challenge of keeping as many churches as possible open and in good repair, a strategic national plan is needed, in addition to any innovative fundraising ideas created by the churches themselves.(Photo: Jonathan Taylor)