Thanks to National Lottery players the Church of England Parish of Grimethorpe with Brierley has received initial support* for the restoration and development of St Paul’s Church in Brierley it was announced on Easter Sunday.
The project aims to carry out major repairs to the roof and gutters of St Paul’s; to install an accessible toilet at the back of the church which will make the building far more accessible and user-friendly to a wide range of church and community groups; and to produce a range of educational materials to encourage visitors and the local community alike to engage with the heritage of this grade II* listed building. Development funding of £16,700 has been awarded to enable the parish to develop their plans. A total of £183,800 has been set aside for the project by the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF).
St Paul’s Church was built in 1869 as a chapel of ease for the medieval church of St Peter in Felkirk. In 2005 it became part of the new ecclesiastical parish of Grimethorpe with Brierley. The building contains some significant stained glass windows, and a hand-painted canvas panel ceiling in the arts and crafts style. This was restored in 2009, but is now once again under threat from water ingress caused by the leaking roof and inadequate guttering.
Fr Ian McCormack, Vicar of Grimethorpe with Brierley, said: “We are very grateful to National Lottery players for this support. St Paul’s Brierley is not only a beautiful building in its own right, it is also one of the focal points of the community in Brierley. Generations have used this building in the past, and we believe that this grant will ensure that future generations can continue to use it, for church and community events alike. We hope that the parish and the local community will now come together to help us raise the match-funding that we need for this project.”
* A first-round pass means the project meets HLF criteria for funding and HLF believes the project has potential to deliver high-quality benefits and value for Lottery money. The application was in competition with other supportable projects, so a first-round pass is an endorsement of outline proposals. Having been awarded a first-round pass, the project now has up to a year to submit fully developed proposals in order to receive the full amount of Lottery funding.
Pictured here is the Paschal candle for St Luke's and St Paul's lit on Easter Sunday