The latest news about church heritage including how to save it, things to look out for and interesting places to visit. You'll also find stories from churches, chapels and meeting houses from across the UK sharing about the wonderful ways they are keeping their buildings open and in use.
All Saints church in Muggleswick, County Durham, could have had a very different future. Like many other historic rural churches, the building was running at a loss. With fewer people in the area because of the loss of farming and mining jobs, the church was running out of options. With a congregation of just eight, how was it going to pay for the urgent repairs? Closure was looming.
Over the last few years, churches have been a lifeline during the cost-of-living crisis by offering their building as a ‘warm space’ for their community to use. But with rising temperatures, churches can also be a refuge away from the heat; a cool space.
We are saddened to hear the news of the death of a much-loved former trustee of the National Churches Trust, Sir Peter Readman OBE. Peter was a Trustee from 2006 to 2016 and continued to support the charity following his tenure. We are grateful to have known Peter and for his generosity, both with his time and skills, in helping the National Churches Trust. We would love to share more with you about Peter, so you can join us in paying tribute to this extraordinary man.
One of the key – but often hidden – ways we help churches is by giving them grants to support preparations for major works, enabling them to develop their project to the point at which they can approach a major grant funder. We want to share with you the story of two churches, Darlington St Cuthbert in County Durham and Great Malvern Priory in Worcestershire, so you can celebrate with us their incredible success.
The UK Government has now opened the Places of Worship Renewal Fund – a new £92 million four-year-fund to help listed churches in England with repairs. It is good news that the Government sees churches as worth investing in – especially as the future of churches is our biggest heritage crisis. Read our analysis below – on how the Places of Worship Renewal Fund will work and what it will fund, how it compares to previous support from the UK Government, and what must happen for churches across the whole of the UK to be kept open and in use.
There are almost 1,000 churches on Historic England’s Heritage at Risk Register. The designation reflects church buildings that face further decay and could be lost forever without action. Escaping the register might feel impossible, but each year there are a few dozen churches that are removed for positive reasons. St Edmund’s church in Egleton, Rutland, was one such church, which in 2025 was removed after three years on the list. This is how they did it – and how you can plan large repair projects that will help your church, chapel or meeting house be removed too.
Northern Ireland has an exceptionally rich heritage of church and chapel buildings. This includes 939 listed places of worship, of which 45 churches and chapels are designated as Category A, recognising them as buildings of the highest heritage significance. However, many places of worship in Northern Ireland were facing significant challenges with those responsible for their care unsure where to turn for advice or funding to help keep their buildings open and in good repair. This is where our innovative Treasure Ireland project was able to help.
Maintaining your church building is important. Regular work preserves irreplaceable heritage, encourages care for the building, and can save you serious money by resolving issues early on. We want to bring you the story of a church in Carmarthenshire who went from having no plan of action to winning an award for how they care for their church. So, how did they do it?
Every church has a story to tell. But with one in 20 UK churches not knowing if they will still be here in five years' time, we risk losing so much. These buildings are not just bricks and mortar, they are memory, and places of connection and refuge. Beauty, faith and hope. It falls onto the shoulders of local people to fundraise for repairs to churches. But thanks to you – our supporters and Friends, those who leave a legacy to the National Churches Trust and our partner organisations – 77 more churches have been saved for the future thanks to a grant.
Grade I Listed St Nicolas of Myra is tucked away in the south of England, in the village of Worth Matravers. It is one of the oldest churches in Dorset. 1000 years of stories and history. But all of that was almost destroyed when an urgent repair project was needed. Find out what happened and how you can help churches, like St Nicholas of Myra, who thought all hope was lost.
Sometimes, unexpected issues can hit your church. Repair bills in the tens or hundreds of thousands can ignite panic and stress for the people who care for your building. This was the feeling at Weston Green All Saints, when they discovered that it would cost almost £100,000 to carry out vital repairs. But a year later, the team had reached their goal and saved the church. This is how it unfolded.
More than half of churches in the UK distribute food to people in need. They provide an essential service and make a meaningful difference to people’s lives. But often, the need is great. And getting a project off the ground can take careful coordinating and a lot of work. Inverness Foodstuff – hosted at Ness Bank Church – has grown substantially since launching more than a decade ago. The project has provided tens of thousands of meals in that time and is changing lives in the city. So how has it achieved and sustained this success and managed to offer so much support to its local community?
