July Newsletter

Welcome to July’s Newsletter

We start this month with the news that the Trust’s Grant Committee met on Thursday, 2nd July and awarded a total of £57,745.87 in grant funding which was shared between the following fourteen churches,

As you can see the needs were varied, including window, floor and roof repairs, drainage works, urgent repairs flagged in QIRs, and investigation works to support larger National Lottery Heritage Fund and other grant provider applications. For the second meeting of 2026, grants were awarded to cover VAT due to the closure of the Listed Places of Worship Scheme. The Government has now formally launched the new Places of Worship Renewal Fund (PWRF), you can read our update on the new scheme here.

Five of the churches listed here are on the Heritage at Risk Register, so the awarding of funds to support larger grant applications could not be more important.

One such grant was for St Peter Hungate, in Norwich. The investigation report, which we supported, will form part of a NLHF application to repair and conserve the medieval fabric of this historic building.

At South Acre, St George damage was caused to the east aisle roof following an attempted theft of copper roofing. The grant will help fund the replacement of the affected area with terne-coated steel to match existing roof material and to deter future theft.

The large, Grade I listed, Cawston, St Agnes is one of the churches on the Heritage at Risk Register, and their QIR identified urgent repairs to south porch wall, plus repairs to windows, and the flooring in the nave and aisle.

A good example of where initial support has secured further funding is the case of Little Massingham, St Andrew, another church sadly on the Heritage at Risk Register. The lead had been stripped from the roof of this church and a temporary cover was installed in 2017. This temporary fix is coming towards the end of its ten-year lifespan.

A major restoration project was being planned to replace the roof of the chancel, north and south aisles, and south porch in terne-coated steel when the parish approached the Trust in June 2025. At that time the Trust awarded St Andrew’s a grant of £10,000 to support this scheme.

Therefore, we are delighted to share with you the news that St Andrew’s Church, Little Massingham, has been awarded a major grant from The National Lottery Heritage Fund to support this ambitious project to preserve and revitalise the historic church for future generations.

The funding will enable urgent repairs to the church roof, replacing the failing temporary covering with a permanent terne-coated stainless steel roof, helping protect the Grade I listed building from further water damage. The church has been on Historic England’s Heritage at Risk Register since the theft of its lead roof in 2017.

Alongside the essential conservation work, the project will also explore future improvements to make the church more sustainable and welcoming, including a feasibility study for accessible toilet and kitchenette facilities and trial repairs to other areas of the church using traditional materials and techniques.

The wider project celebrates the church’s place at the heart of village life and the surrounding Norfolk landscape. Plans include new digital interpretation within the church, nature interpretation boards, and heritage walking routes linked to the Peddars Way and Massingham Heath, helping visitors engage with the area’s rich history, wildlife, and rural heritage.

Revd Joshua Whitnall, Rector of Little Massingham said: “This is wonderful news for Little Massingham and for everyone who cares about the future of St Andrew’s Church. This funding allows us not only to protect a beautiful and historic building, but to reimagine how it can continue serving the community for generations to come as a place of worship, heritage, learning, and welcome. I must express my huge thanks to those who have worked so hard to make this grant a reality”

Thank you to Little Massingham for keeping us updated with their progress and we wish them well with their project.

Find out more about the Trust grant process here.

July saw the launch of the Secret Artists Auction and Exhibition.

Artists have very generously donated original artworks to help raise funds for the conservation of Norfolk’s historic churches.

See our gallery for the works submitted to date, there will be more to follow over the next few weeks, so please do revisit. Here is where you will also find information about how to bid for your favourite piece when bidding opens on 12th September, as well as details of two exhibitions enabling you to see the works up close.

You will also find details of the artists who have donated pieces to the Trust so your challenge will be to link the artwork with the artist, but remember it’s a secret!

You could be taking home a creation by a professional artist, a gifted amateur, a household name, or an emerging talent when the auction closes on Thursday 22nd October at a special evening event at the Weston Room, Norwich Cathedral. The evening will be hosted by artist, designer, writer and long-term friend of the Trust Matthew Rice.

You can book your place at this event by clicking here.

Saturday, 12th September is a particularly significant date for the Trust this year, not only does bidding open in our Secret Artists Auction, it is of course also the day of our annual Bike Ride, Walk & Drive event.

The countdown has well and truly begun with our team of volunteers, who endured the extreme heat, and prepared almost 800 packs of leaflets, forms and essential information to be distributed to churches and chapels around Norfolk ready for the big day in September.

There is wealth of information on How You Can Take Part on the event’s dedicated pages, where you can register for the event, download a Sponsor Form, get ideas for getting your fundraising message out to your supporters, get inspiration with suggested cycling routes, and find out about the various competitions we run including new for 2026 a photography competition for those aged 16 and under, with the hance to win a bike to the value of £250.

Want to plan your cycle own route? During the 2020 Covid lockdown, Justin Nolan, who leads some of fascinating church tours and a keen cyclist, designed a cycle route that would pass every medieval church in the county, and if possible, never come back upon itself.  He succeeded and the route is an astonishing 1300 miles long. You can see the routes and download an app here.

Planning to drive? Why not try one of Hungate Medieval Art’s Rood Screen or Stained Glass Trails? Downloadable routes are available from them at the following link, so whilst taking part you can, as an added bonus, take in some of the finest examples of stained glass and screens in the county’s churches.

Planning to walk? Once again Steve and Lindsay Davis have planned a walking route as part of their Bike Ride, Walk & Drive event. This year they are doing the Burnham Return Walk. Following their ‘Walking the Burnhams’ trek of 2024 they are returning to the area,  but taking a more adventurous, coastal route of around 9 miles and aiming to visit up to 8 churches.  You are very welcome to join them for as much or as little of the route as you like.  Full details including a map can be found here. Thank you to Steve and Lindsay for planning, and we wish them well for the day.

We will be adding other options and more information as we approach the event.

Don’t forget we have a new element to our Bike Ride, Walk & Drive this year the Classic Car Road Trip, with a choice of three historic country houses as your starting location, then make your way to Elsing Hall, visiting churches along the way to find the answers in the Classic Car Quiz.

Are you a parish or benefice preparing a newsletter and would like an image of one of our flyers to advertise the Bike Ride, Walk & Drive event? If so, please do get in touch.

Or, if your church is hosting an event on 12th September (or any other day for that matter) email a flyer and some information to media@norfolkchurchestrust.org.uk and we will advertise it for you on our Church Fundraising Events page.

This autumn the Trust has planned one of our unique literary events especially for members of the Trust. Therefore, we are delighted to announce that Nick Crane, the acclaimed geographer and author, will be discussing  his latest book The Path More Travelled – The Secret History of Britain’s Footpaths at Elsing Hall on Friday 2nd October.

The evening will commence at 6.00pm with a welcome drink followed by an illustrated talk by Nick, pictured here, after which there will be a short Q & A session. It is sure to be a most interesting evening.

The book is a fascinating coast-to-coast look at Britain’s historic footpaths and byways. Discover the prehistoric routeways walked by European migrants 12,000 years ago, how Saxons, Normans and the industrial revolution changed our landscapes and how our beloved national parks emerged from the ashes of two world wars. Nicholas Crane will take you on a journey to discover some of his most memorable walks and calls on all of us to rediscover the lifeblood of our landscapes.

The evening is priced at £30 per person, or £50 for a couple, both options include one copy of Nick’s book.

For more information and to book your place, follow this link.

It has, once again, been a busy few weeks for the Trust.

There wasn’t a cloud in the sky, and even though the mercury was high, we welcomed many visitors to our stand at the Royal Norfolk Show on 24th and 25th June, where we were able to highlight just some of the work that we do to support churches in the county.

We had a fun two days and were even being visited by the Home Guard!!

Thank you to all who stopped by to say hello, including our President, The Lord Dannatt accompanied by The Lord-Lieutenant of Norfolk, The Lady Dannatt. They ably stepped in to give out stickers to the swarm of school children who descended on the tent. Lady Dannatt proudly sported her own NCT sticker for the rest of the day.

A tour of four of the Leased Churches in the Care of the Trust took place on Wednesday 8th July.

Trustee of the Norfolk Churches Trust, Ian Lonsdale, was one of those who attended the tour, he has kindly given us a report of the day.

“On 8^th July, twelve members of the NCT and guests, some coming from as far away as York, were led on a tour of four of the Trust’s Churches which are leased from the Diocese of Norwich. The tour was taken by Trust Advisory Council member and Ecclesiastical Historian John Vigar. These four churches, situated at Bagthorpe, Barmer, Dunton and West Rudham all sit close together just west of Fakenham.

A fascinating time was had by all as John set the scene by introducing the issue of the different ownership and therefore differing maintenance obligations of the Nave and Chancel of the Church. He also outlined the role of The Patron, the medieval pre-reformation religious perception compared to that in later centuries, and Victorian restoration practices as shown in various fashion in the four subject churches through a more detailed description of the architecture of, and artifacts in, each one. 

This brought out vividly the unique nature of each of the churches reflecting their communities as they changed over time and the way they have been used and cared for by them, as is the case for every church in the County of Norfolk. 

He also touched on the 1851 Places of Worship Census the aim of which was to discover

“how far the means of religious instruction provided in Great Britain during the last 50 years have kept pace with the population during the same period, and to what extent those means are adequate to meet the spiritual wants of the increased population of 1851.”

The Government of the time used this census to determine whether, and to what degree, they should fund the maintenance of church buildings, they concluded not to.  Whereas some things have changed in the intervening 175 years, others clearly have not. Because of the controversy generated by this census, the study was never repeated!! 

The day was concluded with reviving tea and cake.  Many thanks to John for being the perfect guide providing the most informative and deeply researched tour of these four fascinating churches which are still open and active thanks to the direct input of the Norfolk Churches Trust”.

Not only is the Norfolk Churches Trust celebrating 50 years but it is also 50 years since the church of Hargham All Saints was saved thanks to the efforts of Cliff and Jackie Amos.

The weekend of 17^th to 19^th July saw a history in flowers and pictures to celebrate that fact.

Inside the church at the weekend were flower arrangements highlighting the history of the church and the work and the family occasions that have taken place there. Outside there was a photographic history of the repairs to the church and the history of the village of Hargham.

The church welcomed more than 300 visitors over the weekend, with the sale of refreshments, (including delicious home-made sausage rolls), and donations raising a fantastic £928.82 which is being donated to the Trust. Thank you to all who made this weekend such a success whether you created a display, helped set up, served refreshments or in any other way, and of course to the Amos family who have been wonderful custodians of this little church over the past half century.

For more images and details of the event follow this link.

Thank you to all of you who attend our events, you really do make a difference, enabling us to support churches and chapels with grant aid, such as those featured at the top of this Newsletter.