Members of a landmark Redcar church are appealing for people with fundraising and project management skills to help them secure the future of a well-loved Victorian building, restore some of its historic features and fit it for the future.
Work with specialist architects at Christ Church, Coatham has revealed a need for £1.8 million worth of major repairs and renovation on the Grade II listed building to conserve its structure and outstanding features after 171 years’ exposure to the often severe weather coming in from the North Sea a few hundred yards away.
Christ Church was built to serve the growing community of Coatham in 1854 at the expense of local benefactor Teresa Newcomen of Coatham Hall. Her gift to the parish includes a font, pulpit and reredos by the renowned Victorian architect Gilbert Scott, and a series of stained-glass windows by William Wailes. The tower and spire at the church’s west end were renovated in 2020 with a grant of £230,000 from the National Lottery Heritage Fund.
The Church is at the heart of Coatham life; its tower and spire are a landmark for local seafarers, and it holds the public roll of honour for the Fallen of the First World War, as well as 22 Commonwealth War graves in the Churchyard. Many local families have celebrated and grieved in the church, and see it as their own, and part of their family history. Christ Church has very close links with Coatham School and enjoys hosting the children and their families at the end of term services throughout the year.
The regular congregation of about 30 people has funded replacement of the smaller roofs on parts of the building over the last ten years, but is now faced with the likely failure within five years of the large roof over the nave (the main body of the church) and its two side aisles.
- The Welsh slate roof tiles are now crumbling and beginning to lift and come loose in the windy coastal weather, while increasingly water is leaking into the building and damaging the original internal features and decoration.
- The roof nails are becoming fatigued, allowing a growing number of slates to slip and exposing the roof timbers which deteriorate quickly in bad weather.
- Some eroded external stones need replacing, and the historic building’s status requires that the stone must match the original.
- The eroded stone surrounds of the stained-glass windows soon will not be strong enough to hold the windows in place and need replacement (the lower panel of the east window was blown out during Storm Arwen and although repaired, cannot be replaced until the stonework is renewed).
- Restoration work is needed on damaged stained glass windows.
- There is extensive damage to the internal decoration of the church due to the water ingress and damp, causing fine features of decoration to be lost.
The Parochial Church Council (PCC) receives no public money from national or local government or from the Church of England because parish churches have to fund repairs themselves.
Vicar of Coatham and Dormanstown the Revd Rebecca Haughty says, “The local church family and the Parochial Church Council (PCC), are the stewards of the building, but Christ Church is for all of the local community, and we would love it to be of use to Coatham people as well as being part of the heritage of Redcar.
“We would like to open up the inside space for local groups to use, and make this a comfortable and functional space with new flooring, a catering area, toilet facilities, and up-graded heating system.”
To meet the challenges of the building the parish needs to apply to the National Lottery Heritage Fund, which entails a great deal of time and skills.
The Revd Rebecca Haughty adds, “We are a small predominantly elderly church family, and we do not have the required funds, skills and energy to manage this process by ourselves. We will need people from the local community with many different skills and knowledge to work with us to make this happen and save this heritage building for the people of Coatham and for those who will come after us.”
- An open meeting will take place at the church on Saturday 1st March at 11.00am, with opportunities to ask questions of the Church family and representatives of the Diocese of York about the work that is required, and to explore how the community can come together to bring this about.
- Christ Church, Coatham
