The members of the Blandford Parish Church Big Church Project are thrilled to announce that they have been awarded a grant of £664,400 by the National Lottery Heritage Fund.
The decades of patching the roof will finally be over, as the funding is now in place for a complete refurbishment.
Alongside the repair work there will be an exciting project to research, record and explore, with the help of volunteers, the lives of those who have been connected with the church; from Hannah, ‘a Black Woman Servant of Mrs Holder’, who was baptised in the church in 1770, to George Vince, a Blandfordian who died by falling over an ice cliff while on one of Scott’s Antarctic Expeditions; to investigate the relationship between the church and various communities including the Travellers.
Sara Loch, Chairman of the Big Church Project, the group overseeing the project, said: “No more buckets scattered around the building! And we can make the space, both inside the church and outside in the churchyard, a vibrant community resource.”
All the tiles from the roof will be removed, so that the wooden battens underneath can be sorted. It is hoped that a majority of the tiles will be re-used, but some will have to be replaced, creating a chance to have their name/suitable message recorded in perpetuity on the underside of the new tiles. So look out for an opportunity to ‘Tag-A-Tile’.
By: Laura Hitchcock
