PRESS RELEASE FROM THE NATIONAL CHURCHES TRUST
DATE:
IMMEDIATE RELEASE
West Midlands
St Michael and All Angels, KINGSLAND, Leominster, Herefordshire HR6 9QW
Diocese of Hereford
Grade I
Church website https://kingslandlife.com/village-talk/churches/
Post lockdown boost for St Michael and All Angels, Kingsland
A much-loved Herefordshire church is to share in a £580,917 funding payout from the National Churches Trust.
A £10,000 National Churches Trust Cornerstone Grant will help the church pay for urgent repairs and allow the church to better serve its community.
The church also receives a £7, 500 Wolfson Fabric Repair Grant from the Wolfson Foundation on the recommendation of the National Churches Trust.
Broadcaster and journalist Huw Edwards, Vice President of The National Churches Trust, said:
“I’m delighted that St Michael and All Angels, Kingsland is being helped with a £10,000 National Churches Trust Cornerstone Grant. The grant will facilitate repairs to roof, interior walls, floor, masonry, structure of south porch and the removal of asbestos.”
“The grant will safeguard unique local heritage and to help St Michael and All Angels continue to support its wider community as we begin to emerge from COVID-19 pandemic.”
Paul Ramsbottom, Chief Executive at the Wolfson Foundation, said:
“Churches play a central role in the spiritual life of a community but they are also an integral, much loved, part of our cultural heritage. We are delighted to be working in partnership with the National Churches Trust on this important programme supporting the preservation of these remarkable and wonderful buildings across the UK.”
A total of 61 churches and chapels in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland will benefit from the latest grants from the National Churches Trust, the charity supporting church buildings of all Christian denominations across the UK. £77,500 of the grants has been provided by the Wolfson Foundation.
This is the first round of grants made by the National Churches Trust in 2021. Last year the Trust has awarded, or recommended on behalf of other funders, 260 grants amounting to £1.7 million.
The church
St Michael’s and All Angels Is considered ‘one of the most interesting and complete decorated churches in the north of the county’. Substantially larger than many of the other parish churches in the area, its size is testament to the relatively large population of Kingsland at the time of its building (1290-1310), and to the increasing power and importance of Roger Mortimer III, of Wigmore Castle, who was married to Maude, or Matilda, de Braose. Maude oversaw the beginning of the building of the church and died in 1301. Her son, Edmund, died three years later, leaving his wife Margaret to supervise the end of the build. Maude’s coat of arms is displayed in the 14th century East window.
The church consists of a south porch, north porch with adjoining Volka chapel, nave, two aisles, a chancel, vestry, organ chamber and west tower, which was heightened in the 15th century. Apart from one or two additions, the church was essentially built all at once, as indicated by the repetition of certain tracery patterns and details of the mouldings in the chancel, nave, Volka Chapel and west tower.
Within the church are a number of other historic features which collectively contribute to its exceptional heritage significance: these include a medieval triple-stepped sedilia; cusped piscinae; a 14th century octagonal font and Victorian encaustic tiles from the famous Herefordshire Godwin tile factory.
The project
The grant will facilitate repairs to the roof, interior walls, floor, the masonry, structure of south porch and the removal of asbestos.
Peter King and Jean Barbour, churchwardens at St Michael and All Angels said: “We are overwhelmed with the generosity of the National Churches Trust and the Wolfson Foundation. It will enable us to commence this major repair and restoration of our wonderful Grade 1 listed Parish Church secure in the knowledge that we have the funds in place to complete our project. ”
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NOTES TO EDITORS
About the National Churches Trust
The National Churches Trust is the leading national independent charity concerned with the protection and welfare of churches, chapels and meeting houses throughout the United kingdom. The December grant round doubles the number of places of worship assisted this year. We aim to:
- a) Provide grants for the repair, maintenance and modernisation of church buildings
- b) Act as a catalyst to improve and bring more resources to the management of church buildings
- c) Promote the value of church buildings to the community at large
For more information visit www.nationalchurchestrust.org
PRESS CONTACT
Eddie Tulasiewicz 07742 932278 020 7227 1936 eddie@nationalchurchestrust.org
