Anne Netherwood

St Mary the Virgin in Shawbury will benefit from £82,400 to address urgent repairs to the tower roof.

The Parochial Church Council successfully applied for the grant through the Government-funded Listed Places of Worship: Roof Repair Fund.

This grant will fund essential structural repairs to the 15th century bell tower of this beautiful Grade I listed 12th century Norman church. Archives show the roof has leaked since originally constructed. Additional work will be carried out on the main roof and water disposal systems making this lovely village church safe and sound for many more hundreds of years.

The well-used church has original features and Roman-based font. The tower was built with a crenelated parapet and weathervane, both of which require repair as does the roof. In 2006, access improvements in the Tower were a bell ringing chamber, kitchen and accessible toilet. The church, open daily, serves a large village and RAF Shawbury personnel. Its dedicated congregation are at the heart of a thriving community. There are numerous events held in church including fund-raising social events, baptisms, weddings and funerals. The local village school enjoys close ties with St Mary’s.

The Rev. Edith Quirey, the Parochial Church Council and residents of Shawbury, are so very thrilled and grateful with this generous grant to make safe their well-loved church for future generations. This money is part of a wider funding package of £22.9million to 401 historic places of worship across the UK. The fund was launched by the Chancellor in his Autumn Statement in December 2014 and the funding package has now seen a total of 903 places of worship across the UK receive a share of £55 million. The Fund is administered by the National Heritage Memorial Fund (NHMF) on behalf of the Department for Culture Media and Sport (DCMS).

A full list of awards across the UK can be found at www.gov.uk/dcms or www.lpowroof.org.uk