A £10,000 National Churches Trust Cornerstone Grant will help fund repairs to the rainwater goods, roof, masonry and windows at the Grade I listed Parish Church of All Saints’ church, Pavement, York making the church watertight and preserving its historic fabric.
Broadcaster and journalist Huw Edwards (pictured), Vice President of The National Churches Trust, said: “The UK's historic churches and chapels are a vital part of our national heritage. During the coronavirus pandemic churches are doing so much to help vulnerable local people and boost morale”.
“Many churches need to carry out urgent repairs and install modern facilities to ensure their buildings can continue to be used well into the future. But the cost of this work is often far beyond what most congregations can pay for themselves.”
“So I’m delighted that All Saints’, Pavement, in York is being helped with a £10,000 National Churches Trust Grant. The work to repair the exterior of the church will help secure the future of an important and much loved historic building.”
A total of 31 churches and chapels in England and Wales will benefit from the latest grants from the National Churches Trust, the charity supporting church buildings of all Christian denominations across the UK.
These grants are the first made in 2020. Last year the National Churches Trust distributed over £1.2 million to 176 churches and chapels around the UK.
James Finlay and James Ratcliffe, Churchwardens at All Saints said: “We have an enormous task on our hands to carry out essential restoration work to the rainwater goods, roof, masonry and windows of our magnificent Grade 1 Listed church situated in the heart of the historic City of York. The work includes the replacement of worn out lead guttering, lead roof work in the tower and of badly weathered stone.”
“The total cost of this project will be around £125,000 and we are immensley grateful for the most generous grant of £10,000 by the National Churches Trust. Without the help of the Trust it would be almost impossible for us to ensure that our church remains in an excellent state of repair.”
All Saints’ Pavement was completely rebuilt in the 14th Century to a rectangular plan on the site of a 10th Century Norse Christian church.
There is a tradition that All Saints was built in AD 685 for St Cuthbert and is listed in the Domesday Book as being held by the Bishop of Durham in the name of the King. The chancel was demolished in 1782 and the east end was rebuilt to allow space for the expanding York market. The north wall and the west end were rebuilt in 1834. The lantern tower, one of the finest in the UK, was rebuilt in 1837. The vestry was added between 1850 and 1855.
The church was restored in 1887 by George Edmund Street when the stonework was cleaned, the pinnacles restored, and the central east window fitted with stained glass by Charles Eamer Kempe.
It is the Guild Church of York and the the Regimental Church of The Royal Dragoon Guards, and is the preferred Church of the ex-Service Associations in the York area.
All Saints, Pavement (one of the York City Centre group of churches)
www.nationalchurchestrust.org