St. Mary’s Church is at Risk!
St. Mary’s church is over 700 years old but its future is at risk and it has been placed on the Historic England “At Risk” register with the description “Priority: A - Immediate risk of further rapid deterioration or loss of fabric”.
Age is taking its toll and the church is now in need of significant and expensive repairs. Our five- yearly architect’s report has identified that repairs estimated at £505,050 are needed, of which £359,650 are required to be carried out within 12 months (this excludes VAT, professional fees and scaffolding costs which will increase the overall cost significantly). If you are able to help and would like to make a donation towards these repairs, and help to save our church please click the Support us button below.
Emergency repairs have been made to the North Aisle roof, and the lead on the extension has been replaced with tern coated stainless steel.
Here are some photos of the repairs needed, some of which have been actioned.
St. Mary’s is also very expensive to keep open. Each parish is allocated a sum of money it needs to pay to contribute towards the cost of clergy salaries, pensions and housing etc. For St. Mary’s it is £2,100 per month, and the latest electricity bill was almost £1,500 (mostly heating costs). The congregation struggles to meet the running costs alone and there are no funds in reserve.
The Parochial Church Council (PCC) is working hard to obtain grants to fund the repairs. Often it takes many months to receive a decision from a grant application. Phase 1 was to get the building watertight to prevent further damage and deterioration and to replace the extension roof. Following some successful grant applications this has now been completed.
Some grant providers require evidence of the amount of money raised locally before they will support us financially. Therefore, we are asking for the help of the people of Long Stratton to restore the church to a good state of repair. If you are able to help, please give a donation, large or small, and if you are a taxpayer, you can Gift Aid your donation which enables St. Mary’s to claim 25p for every £1 donated from HMRC at no extra cost to you.
Please click the Support Us button below to make a donation.
We will update this page periodically to show progress with achieving our funding targets and news about repairs.
Thank you
Steve Dugdale (Churchwarden)