Yorkshire's crumbling churches to benefit from £2m repairs fund

URGENT repairs will be carried out on the Yorkshire region’s historic churches dating back to the Norman era after a 2m fund was set up to pay for the work.

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.

English Heritage and the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) yesterday announced that the cash has been awarded under the joint Repair Grants for Places of Worship scheme. The project has invested 16m since 2002 in preserving the fabric of some of the region’s most historic religious buildings.

English Heritage’s regional director for planning and development for the Yorkshire and Humber region, Trevor Mitchell, said: “These grants aim to support urgent repairs, nipping problems in the bud like leaking roofs which if left unchecked would allow dampness to spread, decaying wonderful interiors and requiring far more costly remedies in the future.”

The announcement was made yesterday at the 12th century St Martin’s Church in Seamer, near Scarborough, where stonework on the south side of the church has been particularly badly eroded by weather.

A grant of 199,000 will help pay for repairs of the ancient stonework as well as replacing rotting leadwork on the nave, chancel and tower roofs.

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 from the funding.