The second phase of a major £140,000 refurbishment project gets underway at St Mary’s Church in East Brent this month.
Following a significant initial personal donation along with other generous gifts, the first phase of work to make the roof at St Mary’s Church watertight and weatherproof began in the spring of last year.
The Rector, Revd Kevin Wright, and the PCC were “immensely grateful” for a grant of £50,000 from Viridor Credits, which enabled the completion of phase 1 work to the north aisle roof by last summer, preventing further damage to the Jacobean plaster ceiling in the nave and other valuable artefacts.
Viridor Credits have since promised a further £10,000 for phase 2 repairs to the south side and porch, which begin this month (March 2022) and are due to be completed by Easter. The total for all the work is in excess of £140,000.
In the meantime, the Chancel roof at the East End has also been repaired, as pictured here. This phase has been largely funded by the Church Commissioners as they hold responsibility for this section of the building.
As with most village church buildings like this, it is mainly the responsibility of the local parish to maintain the majority of the fabric. The Parish of Three Saints has three notable historic buildings.
Revd Kevin Wright told Burnham-On-Sea.com: “Thanks to generous donations and grants, it has been very pleasing to be able to stop the rot of the roof and make this beautiful building sound again.”
“We’re not going to be the generation to let these places of worship close if we can help it, but resources are stretched.”
“Churches like this stand as testament to a real faith practised here for centuries and, while worship does not require a building and we often worship in the open air, the historicity in the stones stands as a public witness to a living faith in Jesus, the same yesterday today and forever. We need to find regular income for the buildings to keep them open.”
