A church that fell into a parlous state after a century of neglect is
one of the historic places of worship shortlisted for an English
Heritage Angel Award.
St Alkmund's Shrewsbury, in Shropshire, was built in 1794 and is a
Grade II listed building, but by 2000 it was in considerable need of
repair.
The roof was leaking, and the
windows were falling apart, including the iron-framed east window
containing glass by Francis Eginton.
In the following decade, the three
surviving Coalbrookdale cast-iron windows were repaired, the entire nave
roof was reslated and releaded, and the Eginton window was restored at a
cost of £150,000.
Toilets and kitchen facitlies were
also added to the building to open it up for community use, and work was
done to redecorate and improve the interior.
The total cost of the most urgent
repair work was £1 million, of which English Heritage funded £500,000.
The remainder of the cost was met by a mix of grants and fundraising by
the priest and parishioners.
The result is that St Alkmund's has been saved as a place of worship and has become a popular concert venue.
The church is up for an award in the Best Rescue or Repair of a Historic Place of Worship category.
The other churches nominated in the
category are Saltaire United Reformed Church, Bradford, St Andrew's
Church, Epworth, and St James the Greater, Melton Mowbray.
The rescue of Saltaire United Reformed Church, a Grade I listed
building, has been led by its small but dedicated group of members, who
came together to form a a restoration team in 2005 to oversee the work.
Len Morris was singled out for praise for his "tireless" efforts in
seeing the process through.
Work has included repairing the portico
canopy and steps, as well as window frames,
safeguarding the
150-year-old Venetian glass.
The mausoleum of Sir Titus Salt had suffered water damage to the
ornate plaster interior as a result of lead thefts, but the roof has now
been restored using zinc instead to prevent further thefts. With the
building in good condition after eight years of work, Morris is pressing
ahead with plans to improve the church's facilities and disabled
access.
At St Andrew's Epworth, extensive repairs have been made to correct
damp and erosion to the masonry caused by a leaking roof and poor
drainage.
The work has been overseen since 2002 by Melvyn Rose, whose role as
chairman of the restoration committee has developed into a full-time
voluntary position.
The building is once again in sound condition
following the completion of a programme of repairs that cost £1.6
million.
St James the Greater was put at sudden and significant risk in 2006
by subterranean and water table issues. These exacerbated pre-existing
water and drainage issues. By Christmas, the church had been forced to
close because of concerns over structural instability, with the
possibility that the closure would be permanent.
The repair work suffered considerable setbacks when the church was
the victim of two separate lead thefts. However, the small community of
Melton Mowbray rallied around and raised the funds to see the repairs
through to the end.
Work was finished this April and the church was
reopened at the Easter Sunday service.
Now the church is fundraising to
carry out the redecoration and plastering of the interior.
The Angel Awards were founded by Andrew Lloyd Webber and are
supported by The Telegraph.
The other categories are for the Best
Craftmanship Employed on a Heritage Rescue, Best Rescue of a Historic
Industrial Building or Site, and Best Rescue of Any Other Type of
Historic Building or Site.
Members of the public are being invited to vote for their favourite
rescue. Winners will be announced at a glittering award ceremony in
London on 21 October hosted by TV presenter Paul Martin.
Mr
Lloyd Webber said: "I offer my heartfelt congratulations to the
candidates shortlisted for this year's English Heritage Angel Awards who
have been selected from a hugely impressive field of applicants.
"These Awards celebrate the time, energy and passion of volunteers
across England who help to preserve our country's architectural
heritage. Acknowledging these unsung heroes is incredibly important and
has contributed to an increase in the number of sites being taken off
English Heritage's At Risk register."
Simon Thurley, Chief Executive of English Heritage, said: "When
heritage experts met recently to sift through almost 200 applications
they were looking for passion, perseverance and imagination as well as
the scale of the challenge and how well it had been tackled. What they
found was that the quality of applications this year was higher than
ever. We salute all these heroic heritage rescuers who prove that people
not only care about their local heritage but are prepared to get stuck
in and save it.
"With the aid of English Heritage, the Heritage Lottery Fund, local
authority conservation officers and countless other organisations - and
sometimes simply on their own - our Angels applicants and thousands like
them are tackling Heritage at Risk head on. As a nation enriched by its
past, we should be truly grateful to our Angels for fighting the
neglect and decay which threatens our future."