Turning a redundant Yorkshire Dales church into a hostel for pilgrims with pews to be made into bunk beds

The Church of Saint Michael and All Angels, built 1885 in the idyllic Swaledale village of Hudswell, has been redundant for quite some years.

Now £50,000 in grant funding could help community fundraisers looking to turn the listed building into an 18-bed hostel for visitors and pilgrims on the camino way.

The Hudswell Community Charity has 18 months to raise £1.1m, having secured planning permissions as well as the support of Prime Minister Rishi Sunak who serves as the local MP.

The Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority (YDNPA) has now awarded a grant sum of £50,000 from its Sustainable Development Fund (SDF).

Martin Booth, trustee of the charitable group, said it serves as a display of "faith" in the community's ambitions to breathe new life into the much-loved old building.

"Our old parish church is unfortunately no longer in use and we're trying to give it a new lease of life and preserve its heritage for the village and for the country," he said.

"We have a lot of funds to raise, but the support of the YDNPA is very important to us and will, I believe, encourage other funders to support us."

The late Victorian building, on the site of a medieval church believed to date from 1250, is sited close to the Coast to Coast walking path, which is becoming a national trail. Crucially, a 'camino' route from Durham to Santiago in Spain means it could attract pilgrims.

There is a gap in the market, said Mr Booth, citing research from the Richmondshire Building Preservation Trust (RBPT) to show there is no low cost, short-term accommodation nearby.

The charity is looking to provide affordable accommodation for hikers, cyclists and pilgrims - for about £28 a night - while drawing custom to the village.

Charity treasurer Annie Sumner, who came up with the idea to turn the pews into bunk beds with the help of a local joiner, said Hudswell already has a successful community-owned pub and shop, and wants people to come and use them.

The Rev Martin Fletcher, rector of the United Benefice of Richmond with Hudswell and Downholme and Marske is also a charity trustee. It's important, he said, that the building isn't left to "wrack and ruin".

"We are greatly blessed in the calibre of the people in this community who make things like the pub, the shop and the social housing work," he said.

"If we can't get this church to be repurposed in this way, with this group of people, then other church buildings have no chance of being repurposed.

"What we don't want is for this church building to end up being some grand house, isolated from the community. We want it to remain part of the community."

Crowdfunders are underway while further grant funding is being sought. Visit www.daleshostel.com to find out more.