£105,000 grant for church roof repairs

All Saints' Church, a listed building at Low Catton, near Stamford Bridge, North Yorkshire, has been awarded 105,000 towards the cost of a replacement roof by English Heritage.

Its congregation has welcomed the news and say the grant will make a massive difference to renovation work at the church.

Church warden John Bradley said: "This is wonderful news for us all at Low Catton.

"Replacing the roof will cost us over 153,000 so the English Heritage grant is a huge contribution towards the project.

"This funding means that the congregation are determined to go ahead and find the rest of the money so that this beautiful old church can be maintained for future generations."

All Saints Church dates from the Norman period, and still contains 13th century aisles and a 15th century tower. The nave was restored in the early 1860s and the East Window was made by William Morris to the designs of Edward Burne-Jones.

An English Heritage report on praised it as a charming building and congratulated the staff and congregation on their efforts in keeping it going.

Earlier this year a 2m fund was set up to pay for urgent repairs to be carried out on Yorkshire's historic churches.

The repairs will target eroded masonry, leaking roofs and crumbling guttering on 16 listed churches, helping hard-pressed parishioners secure the future of the buildings.

The project, undertaken by English Heritage and the Heritage Lottery Fund, has invested 16m since 2002 in preserving the fabric of some of the region's most historic religious buildings.

A total of seven churches in West Yorkshire, five in North Yorkshire, three in East Yorkshire and the Humber region and one in South Yorkshire will benefit.