Steepling costs

St Wilfrid's at Halton in east Leeds is a local landmark and grade one listed. To some it is a national treasure, to others it's a

bold experiment in failed modern building techniques. Whatever your view, it is struggling.

"The foundation stone was laid here in 1937 and it was completed in 1939, so in terms of churches it's actually fairly modern," says the Venerable Peter Burrows, Archdeacon of Leeds. "It's of the Arts and Crafts design, that's why it's a grade one listed building." The Ven Burrows is showing me round because, at present St Wilfrid's lacks a vicar. There's really quite a lot to see. Designed by architect Randall Wells just before the Second World War, the church has furnishings and statues by some of the top artists of the day, including Eric Gill, who also designed the statue of Ariel and Prospero at the entrance to Broadcasting House in London.

St Wilfrid's windows are central to the character of the building, flooding the interior with light, but they are also part of the problem. Look closely and you can see the metal which holds the glass in place is disintegrating. Gently stroke the rusting frames and bits will come away in your fingers.

"They've all got to be replaced, and part of the problem with that is not just the cost, it's what material can we use?" says the Ven Burrows. "Do we use metal again? If so, what sort of metal, what quality of metal do we use? Clearly we wouldn't get away with using UPVC, but it does raise the question that if we're going to replace the glass at a cost of several thousands of pounds, do we make sure they're double glazed?"

It's not just the windows which are a potential money pit. Some of the building techniques were quite experimental for the time, including the use of flat roofs and this means more headaches for the Ven Burrows and his colleagues

"We've had to do some exploratory work of actually going into the roof

space to see what the roof was made of and how it was constructed," he says. "It's going to cost somewhere in the region of 300,000 just to put the roof back on. But part of the problem now is we're just not sure that the internal structure will actually support a much heavier roof."

St Wilfrid's is an example of how local solutions have to be found for local problems. That is typical of the national picture just revealed by English Heritage. They took a representative sample survey of almost 1,500 places of worship and discovered that one in nine is in poor or very poor condition. In the past, churches and other places of worship which are still active were excluded from English Heritage's at risk register.

The tiny church of St Mary's at Watton, near Driffield, dates back to the end of the 16th century. Unusually for such an old church, it is made of brick. "Its roof is dying slowly and is coming to the end of its natural life," says Phil Thomas, the man in charge of buildings for the Diocese of York. "The re-pointing problem is enormous and needs to be done with huge skill which is expensive.

"Its problems are long-term, slow drip. The roof is at the end of its life, plants are growing in the wall. It's a princess waiting to be kissed back to life."

Old ways were not necessarily the best. Some churches in the diocese were built with problematic materials. "On very ancient churches in this area, we do have a big problem with masonry repairs because of the stone that the 12th and 13th century builders liked to use. It's a ghastly stone, quarried on the Wolds in East Yorkshire, called calcareous sandstone.

"It is sandstone which has a high admixture of limestone. Over time, limestone tends to dissolve in rain water, turns itself into a mild acid that washes away the matrix which is holding the grains of sand together. So the stone self-destructs, and unfortunately in the 12th century it was the favoured building stone in this diocese. So I've got huge numbers of churches which are literally melting."

Trevor Mitchell, the regional director of English Heritage, says: "We're adding them to the register so we can draw public attention, to get other people to help.

"There's a public perception that your parish or village church will be there and someone will be looking after it. The reality is that it's up to individuals to look after it and so we're wanting to give those people help, by really getting a bit more publicity and public awareness about the issues that they face."

In Yorkshire, about 70 were discovered to be in trouble. "Our sample survey suggested six per cent of Yorkshire's churches are at risk. It's a 'term of art', it's not scientific." Being on the register can help with grants and it can also help congregations to raise money. Some priests, however, feel that their calling was to a life of prayer and tending to the needs of their flock. They did not sign up to be a custodian of an ancient buildings. It's not the reason the Rev Ruth Hind chose to be ordained. She is the priest in charge of Hutton Cranswick, the benefice which includes St Mary's at Watton.

"It is time-consuming," she says. "It is an area where I don't feel necessarily I should be putting my energy. God called me to be pastor to people to talk to them about God, lead worship – and leave others to look after buildings. That's not an area that I'm very good at really. I think it's hugely unfair. I think the nation needs to take responsibility for the heritage of the churches."

She does receive help from Catharine Otton-Goulder QC, a barrister and part-time judge who is also chairman of the East Yorkshire Historic Churches Trust. Miss Otton-Goulder says that the problem which often faces clergy is getting to grips with the processes involved with grant applications. "What's intimidating for a lot of small congregations who have worked hard over a number of years is the filling in of the forms and who to apply to."

Churches are one of the biggest recipients for money from English Heritage and there have been Yorkshire success stories.

Six years ago, St Andrew's church in Kirby Grindalythe, near Malton, was at risk of being closed because of the state of the building.

"It was dangerous because one of the pinnacles had fallen off, water was pouring in through part of the roof, the chancel floor was badly twisted so that the tiles stuck up. It was quite easy to fall over them. There were parts of the stalls where the woodworm had eaten the wood away to such an extent that there was nothing left to stand on."

After efforts by the local community, grants were made which allowed the restoration of the church in stages. One added benefit was the training and employment of a local youngster, David Land, as a stonemason.

A substantial benefit for conservationists was being able to reclaim the VAT on structural repairs to listed church buildings. But that is about to end next year and has thrown a shadow over the efforts of people like the Ven Peter Burrows in Leeds.

"We're very disappointed that the indications are that the Government are not going to continue with the VAT recovery scheme which is worth millions to local churches. But we should balance that with the fact that the Government gets millions of pounds out of local churches, on what they pay on VAT and other taxes."

Catharine Otton-Goulder believes that scrapping the refund could lead to some churches closing. "It would be catastrophic, just because of the sums involved. We could lose churches, especially now that VAT is going up to 20 per cent." She says that saving these churches is vital, not just because many are important buildings, but also for their place in the community.

For all the trouble that St Mary's Church at Watton causes her, its vicar Ruth Hind wouldn't want to lose it. "We very much want Watton to stay alive and be a healthy church and not be at risk."

YP MAG 10/7/10