St Mary Magdalene Parish Church Restoration -

Presented by Anna Herbert

St Mary Magdalene is a grade one listed church dating back to the 12^th century. It is a nationally significant building which is currently on Historic England’s at risk register. Since its temporary closure in November 2024, vital repairs to the roof, masonry and stained glass windows are breathing life into the visitor experience.

Grants from the National Lottery Heritage Fund, support from Historic England, The Church of England and the UK Shared Prosperity Fund will enable the work to be undertaken. The church began the project expecting to be able to reclaim a substantial portion of the cost of VAT through the governments listed places of worship grant scheme. However due to a change in tax rules an extra £400,000 has to be raised.

The project is due to be completed in December 2025.

Anna, Heritage Interpretation and Visitor Experience Manager told us about the current works as well as how the church came about in its location, the changes in styles of architecture and its plans for the future.

Hard hat tours are currently available to follow the progress and see the church as you have never seen it before. Parish Church is currently undergoing a major multi million pound conservation project. The scheme aims to make significant repairs to the building, which will remove it from the Heritage at Risk Register. Additionally solar panels will installed with a new cafe, toilets and an acoustically separate room for running heritage and engagement activities.

St Mary’s has a fascinating history dating back more than 800 years and will also install a brand new interpretation scheme highlighting some of the nationally significant parts of the church.