THE number of churches, chapels, and meeting houses on Historic England’s Heritage at Risk Register has risen from 904 to 959, the National Churches Trust’s (NCT’s) 2024-25 Annual Review suggests.
The charity’s chief executive, Claire Walker, and its chairman, Sir Philip Rutnam, write in the foreword of the review, published last week, that keeping church buildings in good repair is “essential for their future”. They announce that, during 2024, 314 grants were awarded — 63 more than in 2023 — and that the Trust’s total funding of churches increased by £622,750 to almost £3 million.
Its director of church engagement, Catherine Townsend, says that there has been a large increase in demand for NCT grants: 713 applications were made, up from 487 the previous year.
Funding for churches and chapels in Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland rose for the second year running; outside England, 79 grants were awarded, totalling £1,099,632. Wales received the most funding, £502,998; Scotland received £360,696, and Northern Ireland £235,938.
Wales has 3500 Christian places of worship, but 200 churches have closed since 2015, and at least 300 more are predicted to close in the next decade. The chief executive of the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales, Chris Catling, has described this as “the biggest crisis since the dissolution of the monasteries in terms of the potential loss of this massive, extended collection of architecture and art”.
In the report, the NCT says that it advocated for the Listed Places of Worship Grants Scheme (LPWGS), which allows for a VAT rebate to churches on essential repairs (News, 19 March). The scheme was extended until March 2026, though it now has a cap of £25,000 on VAT refunds.
The report suggests that more than 60 per cent of constituencies in England (336 in total) have a church on the Heritage at Risk Register. This includes Holborn and St Pancras, Sir Keir Starmer’s constituency, which has ten churches at risk.
South Shropshire is the constituency with the most (19) church buildings in danger, including several churches from the 11th to 13th centuries.
Ms Walker and Sir Philip say that churches were the country’s biggest base for voluntary action. “The social and economic value of churches to the UK is at least £55 billion a year; and all of this depends on local people, congregations, and volunteers.”