South Norfolk church gets £630k funding boost 

A South Norfolk church has received over £630,000 from the National Lottery Heritage Fund to deliver community engagement activities and enable work to take it off the Historic England At Risk Register.

Following a development grant of £33,274, the Upper Tas Valley All Saints Parochial Church Council (PCC) has now received a full delivery grant of £631,462 from The National Lottery Heritage Fund.

The funding will enable St Peter’s church in Forncett to be taken off Historic England’s Heritage at Risk Register, to deliver an exciting range of community engagement activities and to create an innovative new interpretive scheme for all ages.

St Peter’s Church is widely regarded as one of the finest medieval round tower churches in the country with many notable features including the alabaster Drake tomb from 1485, intricately carved pew ends and a unique 16th century wooden staircase in the tower.

The initial grant awarded in February 2023 has been used to investigate the fabric and structure of St Peter’s Church. This revealed a number of areas of the church needing urgent repair including re-slating the nave and chancel roofs, repairing/replacing rotten roof timbers, rebuilding damaged flint and stonework and improving drainage systems, completion of which will secure St Peter’s future.

When the defects within the church fabric became apparent in 2019, a group of enthusiastic local people set up The Friends of St Peter’s hoping to raise the funds necessary to save St Peter’s. As well as The National Lottery Heritage Fund there has been a number of successful match funding grant applications.

The Headley Trust, Historic England, The Round Tower Churches Trust, The Geoffrey Watling Charity, The Garfield Weston Foundation, The Bishop of Norwich Fabric Fund, St John’s College Cambridge, The Paul Bassham Trust and The Norfolk Churches Trust have all given generously. In addition, village community events, including bake sales, quizzes and barbeques have been organised with the help of dedicated volunteers, and have raised over £33,000.

It is hoped that the remedial works will start this year, after which the church will be closed while the repairs are carried out. However the churchyard, which will host a series of ‘Four Seasons in a Country Churchyard’ conservation activities, will be open so that visitors can appreciate the beautiful setting of the church and its many interesting external features.

Work is expected to take about 18 months and once complete, visitors will also benefit from a new Heritage & Nature Trail and ‘Rook over Forncett’ film, showing the rich history of the Forncetts and St Peter’s Church and created in partnership with the local
community.

Terry Hickman Smith, Project Manager of St Peter’s Project Steering Group, said: “Thanks to the National Lottery players, St Peter’s church will soon be fully functional and a thriving hub for local groups, schools and the wider community.”

Robyn Llewellyn, Director, Midlands & East, at The National Lottery Heritage Fund, said: ”Places of worship are some of our oldest and most cherished historic buildings Thanks to money raised by National Lottery players we are pleased to support this project which will secure a brighter and more sustainable future for St Peter’s Church, protecting its heritage and creating fantastic opportunities for the local community and beyond.”

More information about St Peter’s.

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