A "much-loved" Huntingdonshire church is to share in a £421,000 urgent funding pay-out from the National Churches Trust to help its bells to ring safely.
St Leonard's church in Southoe, near St Neots, will receive a £3,000 National Churches Trust Gateway Grant which will help pay for structural repairs to the tower of the Grade I listed church.
The church will also receive a £10,000 Wolfson Fabric Repair Grant from the Wolfson Foundation on the recommendation of the National Churches Trust to help pay for the repair work.
St Leonards' Church Rector, Canon Annette Reed, said: “We were delighted to receive this wonderful news just before Christmas.”
"The project will also enable disabled toilet facilities in future to be introduced into the tower base as part of a wider scheme to provide flexible community facilities for the whole village.
"We are grateful as well to our County Trust, the Cambridgeshire Historic Churches Trust, for supporting the project with a grant and loan.”
St Leonard’s church dates back to 1160-80 and features an elaborately carved Norman south doorway, and the north-west tower, dating from the 16th century, includes a historic clock and four bells.
The £3,000 Gateway Grant and the £10,000 Wolfson Fabric Repair Grant will facilitate structural repairs to the ancient fabric of the tower, introducing steel beams beneath timber ones to reduce the impact of the bells being rung.
Broadcaster, journalist and BBC presenter Huw Edwards, vice president of the National Churches Trust, said: "I’m delighted that St Leonard’s is receiving a Christmas funding boost for repairs to its tower.
"This will safeguard unique local heritage and keep the church open and in use for the benefit of local people.
“Whether seeking quiet reflection, access to community services or as a place to worship, the National Churches Trust helps hundreds of churches each year and, with the support of local people, keeps them thriving today and tomorrow.”
Thanks to the £421,000 of funding awarded in the latest round of grants by the National Churches Trust, 49 churches across the UK will be able to stay open and in good repair.
Paul Ramsbottom, Chief Executive of the Wolfson Foundation, said: "We are thrilled to continue our partnership with the National Churches Trust to support the preservation of these significant, much-loved historic buildings across the UK.”
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