A much-loved Berkshire church is to share in a £351,500 heritage funding boost from the National Churches Trust.
A £10,000 National Churches Trust Grant will help to pay for much needed community facilities for St James’ Church in Leckhampstead. The money will help pay for disabled toilets as part of a large reordering project, ensuring the Grade II* Listed church building can thrive today and tomorrow.
Broadcaster and journalist Huw Edwards, Vice President of the National Churches Trust, said:
"I’m delighted that St James church is receiving funding for modern community facilities. Disabled toilets will help more people to use the church, safeguard unique local heritage and keep the building open and in use for the benefit of local people.”
“Whether seeking quiet reflection, access to community services or as a place to worship, the National Churches Trust helps hundreds of churches each year and with the support of local people, keeps them thriving today, and tomorrow.”
Help for churches
Twenty-one churches across the UK will stay open and in good repair thanks to £351,500 of funding awarded and recommended by the National Churches Trust in this latest round of grants.
In 2022, the National Churches Trust made over 255 grant awards to churches throughout the United Kingdom, with funding totalling more than £1.95m.
In 2023, grants continue to be available to churches of any Christian denomination that are open for regular worship to fund urgent repairs, maintenance, installing loos or kitchens and feasibility studies to develop projects. Full details are at: nationalchurchestrust.org/grants
The church
St James Church is included on the List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historical Interest and is listed as a Grade II* Victorian Church.
It was designed by Samuel Sanders Teulon, who was an exponent of a High Victorian style known as “Modern Gothic”. It was built in brick and flint.
The most striking element of the church is the interior with vibrant brickwork, using red, cream, and black bricks in patterns to the walls and bands over arches to the arcade and windows.
Sir John Betjeman wrote that Teulon, "was at his most original, using coloured bricks and flint for a building that is of North German character - so far as it has any precedent at all.”
The Victorian Society and Historic England both emphasise the need to protect the building for its religious and historic value; as it contains artifacts such as the eleventh-century font, fourteenth-century bell, Jacobean pulpit, and Georgian altar rails.
The grant from the National Churches Trust will facilitate the installation of disabled toilets as part of a large reordering project which includes heating and the removal of pews.
A spokesperson for the church said:
"St James Church is thrilled to receive the National Churches Trust grant and really appreciate their continued support especially in these difficult and challenging times. For a small rural church like us their support is invaluable."