Kate Andrew, Church Buildings
Project Manager, been supporting
three churches in the Dudley area
in the delivery phase of their building
conservation projects, all with major
grants from the Heritage Lottery Fund.
St Thomas & St Luke has now finished a £275,000 project to provide safe access to
the roof and functioning rain water disposal. The grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund
(HLF) was complemented by awards from seven other Trusts and foundations plus lots
of volunteer time.
Although watertight, the church is still on the At-risk Register and the remarkable
painted East window is one of the 100 most significant at-risk ‘church treasures’. We
are meeting HLF to explore the best way to approach the next stage of work.
St John’s, Brockmoor has also been on the At-risk Register for many years. Some
damage was all too obvious; peeling paint, falls of plaster and failures of sections of
the electrical system. However, less visible was severe rot due to water getting into
the building. A £280,000 project began in January and will deal with all these issues.
Building work is due to finish in mid-May and the contractor will be back on site for
some traditional skills demonstrations at a public event with heritage displays on Black
County Day, 14 July.
St Edmund King & Martyr’s appearance on the At-risk Register is partly due to a very
obvious hole in the porch ceiling caused by a failure of the drainage from the tower
roof. Scaffolding started going up just after Easter and work on the £280,000 project
will repair the tower roof as well as ft a new kitchen and toilets. A separate project to
create a much needed access ramp for those with mobility impairments is planned to
happen once the conservation work is complete.
Please pray for all of Dudley’s Churches and for Kate Andrew as she works to help the
parishes ensure their buildings are ft for purpose and accessible to the community.
Stourbridge Deanery – Rural Dean: Andrew Sillis; Lay Chair; John Nicholson
The Church of Pakistan (United): Archbishop Humphrey Peters
Diocese of St Albans: Bishop Alan Smith with Bishops Richard Atkinson (Bedford)
& Michael Beasley (Hertford)
Diocese of Linköping (Sweden): Bishop Martin Modéus
