Medieval church receives grants for urgent repairs

A Grade I listed medieval church at risk of disrepair has received two grants to fund the works needed to restore the building.

Water has been leaking through the roof, windows and stonework at St Peter and St Paul's Church in Lavenham - one of Suffolk's largest village churches.

The church, which has medieval woodwork, has been given £20,000 from The National Churches Trust and £10,000 from The Wolfson Foundation for the renovations.

Canon Simon Pitcher, the rector at the church, said that without the money to make the improvements the church would have to stop hosting community and cultural events.

"Since the Covid-19 pandemic the cost of building materials, labour, energy, and now VAT, have increased enormously and we cannot carry this responsibility alone.

"Without the grant aid that The National Churches Trust and Wolfson Foundation are offering to us we would not be able to address all the urgent repairs that currently need to be done," he said.

Canon Pitcher added the money would help offer a "warm, dry, welcoming building, open every day of the year".

The money would be used to repair the roof using traditional materials including stone, flint and lead.

Stonework around several of the stained glass windows would also be replaced and some exterior walls would be repainted, the church added.

The National Churches Trust said St Peter and St Paul's Church was considered of national importance and known as a "wool church" - part of a collection of churches that was built off the profits of the wool trade in medieval times.

Wool churches were paid for by local merchants and farmers at a time when the material was extremely profitable.

The church was rebuilt in the years after the Battle of Bosworth in 1485 and this year marked 500 years since its tower was built.

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