St Mary's Church, Newchurch

Newchurch Church – The Way to a New Roof

We have been fortunate enough to be awarded a Grant under the Governments’s Listed Places for Worship Roof Repair Scheme.

An initial grant of £14,700 to re-roof the tower was subsequently increased to £36,900 to enable us to re-roof the entire Church. The Grant is one of a total of 903 awarded in 2015 and 2016 from total funding package of £55 million allocated by the then Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne. Those who have seen ceiling plaster on the floor of the Nave and the holes in the spire will know that this work is urgently needed.

One of our concerns is ensuring the welfare of the resident bats (13 in number according to our consultants, Acer Ecology) while the work is in progress.

We are also keen to get rid of the iron sheeting on the East end of the church (see picture), though are not sure what we’ll find underneath.

The LPOW Roof Repair Fund is administered by the National Heritage Memorial Fund on behalf of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.

The project Co-ordinator is Adrian Chambers (email chambers2444@yahoo.co.uk)

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Ebenezer Prebyterian Chapel, Newchurch

          

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Chris Pickford explains the stock

The Bells

Children and Bells

On the evening of Sunday 27 September 2009 the newly restored church bells were presented to an audience who had gathered to hear a talk and presentation by bell historian Chris Pickford.

In his talk Chris said that Newchurch was one of a cluster of 30-40 churches in the Marches with ringing bells. What is remarkable is that the Newchurch bells date back to the 1350s. Referring to Fred Sharpe's Church Bells of Radnorshire (1946) he noted that one has an inscription in Latin meaning "for the angelic salvation" (seen here on the right).

The bells were hung on Monday 28 September 2014. Adrian Chambers, the project co-ordinator said that the refurbishment of the bells was part of a larger project of replacing the woodwork and maintaining them for the future. He can be contacted on chambers2444@yahoo.co.uk

Newchurch Chapel

Newchurch

St Mary's Newchurch