It was excellent news for the church in the tiny hamlet of Birkby near Northallerton last month. The Heritage Lottery Fund confirmed an award of £42,000 to re-slate the church roof and renew rainwater goods in cast iron. It follows an HLF grant of £4,700 last year to undertake detailed inspection of the roof.
New MP for Richmond is Rishi Sunak (pictured second left) said he was delighted to support the project and visited St Peter’s Church to learn about the project. Building and renewal work has now started. The church is a focal point for the tiny rural community and is the only public building in the hamlet where people can gather together. The present church is a single-brick structure built in 1776, but the history of Birkby goes back much further, and there is evidence to suggest that today’s church stands on a site of a 12th century building.
The vicar, Revd David Lewis, said “Worship was taking place here even before the Norman Conquest, and we would like that tradition to continue for centuries to come.”