Prayers answered as Wesleys’ church set for major renovation

WORK to renovate an historic church that draws visitors from around the world should finally get under way this summer after more than 15 years of planning.

The Chancellor of the Diocese of Lincoln has granted faculty, the church version of planning permission, for a major programme of improvements to St Andrew’s Parish Church in Epworth.

As well as being of architectural importance, the 800-year-old church is also significant for its links to Methodism.

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Samuel Wesley, father of the movement’s founders, John and Charles, was rector of St Andrew’s from 1697 until his death in 1735.

Both boys were baptised in the font, which is to be moved back to its original position at the rear of the church as part of the improvements, and both took their first Communion from the Communion Chalice, which has also survived.

It is hoped the work will begin in July and be completed by spring next year.

The project will be the culmination of a series of refurbishments costing about £700,000 and follows a successful fundraising campaign that has been supported by North Lincolnshire Council and the Heritage Lottery Fund, which awarded a grant of £457,500 in June 2010.

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This grant was primarily made to allow the church to tell the story of its heritage and bring more visitors to Epworth and St Andrew’s, which regularly attracts parties from overseas.

Parish priest the Rev Ian Walker said he was delighted that the final phase of work could now begin on the Grade I listed building.

He said: “The present reordering proposal and the grants that have been awarded represent a once in a lifetime opportunity to enable St Andrew’s to fulfil the role it has done for the past eight hundred years. When the work is completed it will affirm the position of St Andrew’s as Epworth’s Parish Church serving the community effectively in today’s world.

“We are relieved that at this stage we can get on and do the work. It’s taken longer to get permission than we thought but it’s very good news for Epworth and the church.

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“We get visitors from all around the world, particularly the US and Korea, and what we are doing will hopefully enhance the experience for them.”

The revamp will also be welcomed by parishioners, who, apart from Easter Day, have been attending services in the Ivy Andrew church hall since November because of the state of the church.

The process to restore the church began in 1997, when an historic buildings architect at English Heritage said it was in “exceptionally poor condition”.

A new limestone floor with underfloor heating will be laid to replace a disastrous flooring job carried out in the 1960s.

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This saw the concrete floor laid over a plastic membrane that forces damp to be retained in the walls with the result that replastering work carried out in the chancel only three years ago is already disintegrating at ground level.

New heating systems are also eagerly awaited. The gas supply was switched off in May last year after a smell of gas.

A meeting room will be created under the tower which will house audio visual displays of the life and heritage of Epworth and the Isle of Axholme, while above this there will be a ringers’ gallery with a balcony looking out over the nave.

The Victorian pews will be replaced by high quality oak chairs with rush seats similar to those recently installed in Ripon Cathedral. There will also be a small number of stackable benches, and the new seating will allow for greater flexibility of worship and other meetings.

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Other essential improvements include a new kitchen and toilets, new internal and external lighting, and electrical rewiring for the whole building.

This will allow the church to utilise all the photo-voltaic cells that were installed on the roof in February last year.

Four phases of repairs to the stonework were completed in 2009.