A project to renovate West Huntspill Church has been given a major financial boost this week with the news that it is to receive a £20,000 funding package from the National Churches Trust.
A £10,000 National Churches Trust Cornerstone Grant will help fund urgent repairs and work to St Peter and All Hallows Church.
The church will also receive a £10,000 Wolfson Fabric Repair Grant from the Wolfson Foundation on the recommendation of the National Churches Trust.
The work – to include repairs to the tower and roof, and installing a kitchen and toilets – will help to remove the church from Historic England’s ‘At Risk’ Register.
David Lemon, Project Coordinator, told Burnham-On-Sea.com this week: “St Peter and All Hallows Church Parochial Church Council are very pleased to receive a Cornerstone grant of £10,000 from the National Churches Trust, and a further Fabric Repair Grant of £10,000 from the Wolfson Foundation.”
“This will be an important part of funding for a major Tower restoration and the reordering of the West end of the church. Work on the Tower will repair the crumbling stone, on the part of the church which has stood as a local landmark for more than 500 years, and make the building waterproof again.”
“The reordering in the West end of this large village church will provide toilets and improved catering facilities making this a much-needed community hub for the village and surrounding area whilst maintaining the flexibility to hold large services when needed. The church will also be an ideal destination for the ‘heritage tourist’, being so close to the National Coastal Path as well as Burnham-on-Sea, Berrow and Brean.”
Broadcaster and journalist Huw Edwards, who is Vice President of The National Churches Trust, says: “I’m delighted that the beautiful church of St Peter and All Hallows in Huntspill is being helped with a £10,000 National Churches Trust Cornerstone Grant and a £10,000 Wolfson Fabric Repair Grant.”
“The grants will help fund much needed repairs to the tower and roof, and installing a kitchen and toilets. This will safeguard unique and much loved local heritage and help St Peter and All Hallows continue to support local people.”
A total of 47 churches and chapels in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland will benefit from the latest grants from the National Churches Trust, the charity supporting church buildings of all Christian denominations across the UK. £155,700 of the £473,000 grant funding has been provided by the Wolfson Foundation.
In 2021 the National Churches Trust has awarded or recommended 273 grants totalling £3.67 million to help keep church buildings open and in good repair. The total includes £2 million from the Heritage Stimulus Fund, part of the Government’s Cultural Recovery Fund.
History of West Huntspill church
St Peter and All Hallows is known as one of the most historic churches in Somerset, and is known as ‘The Cathedral of the Levels’. A Christian community is believed to have existed at Huntspill since AD 796 when, during the reign of the Saxon King Offa, the Manor and land at Huntspill was given to Glastonbury Abbey. Huntspill is listed in the Domesday Book of 1086 as Honspil.
There has been a church on this site since 1194. It was rebuilt in the 1400’s and restored to its former glory after a fire in 1878. Today, the pillars are still a unique red/orange colour as a result of the fire.
The church features distinctive architectural details include cinque-foil cusped perpendicular windows, stone carved gargoyles and embattlements. The Tower is believed to have been built in the 15th Century.
Within the village, the church is the only Grade I Listed building and the church and its tower is key to the identity of the village.
