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london-se1 website
UK News

Churches added and removed from new Heritage At Risk Register

The list by Historic England details places of worship that are in poor condition and need of funding and repair.

St George the Martyr church near London Bridge, also known as the 'Little Dorrit' church, has been in need of repair for several years. 

Rev Jonathan Sedgwick from the church told Premier the building has been standing since the 1730s.

He said: "The roof leaks, so my office under one of the corners gets flooded whenever it rains very hard and some of the stone work is coming off the outside of the building, so just things that need fixing."

St George the Martyr Church has secured Heritage Lottery funding and other grants to begin renovations.

Rev Sedgwick said he hopes this will help them continue to do what they already do in the community.  

He told Premier: "It's also really important that they [churches] live and do their job as churches today...we've got a concert going on as I speak to you, we have a foodbank here this afternoon and a café."

Becky Clark, the Church of England's, Director of Churches and Cathedrals, said in statement: "The challenges of caring for old and complex buildings are manifold and, like the rest of the heritage sector, we are facing increasing challenges in raising funds for repairs and maintenance.

"However we remain committed to caring for our churches, not just because they are historic, but because they form a centre to contemporary life, both as places of worship and as community hubs."

Meanwhile, there is better news for other historic sites including a bombed-out church in Liverpool. The future of St Luke's 'Bombed Out' Church has been secured. It was burned out in the 1941 May Blitz in the Second World War and is now used as an event venue. 

A new 3-G architectural lighting system was unveiled at the church to mark its removal from Historic England's Heritage at Risk Register. 

Peter Byrne/PA Wire
The 185-year-old Gothic church is being lit up to mark the completion of the £500,000 restoration of the building

Andrew Reynolds, artistic director and curator of St Luke's 'Bombed Out' Church in Liverpool spoke to Premier's Cara Bentley

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