Lottery Grant for Historic Church

 Tuesday August 13 2013

Anstruther Parish Church is among the first group of churches in the UK to be awarded a grant in a new National Lottery programme.

The historic church, in the Presbytery of St Andrews, has been awarded £83,700 for repairs to the church tower and walls, which are suffering from water ingress.

Repointing will replace historic cement-based repair work that is now damaging the building. The parapet walkway will also be repaired along with the clock facings and fittings. Internally decaying structural timbers will be repaired, a stone spiral stair will be repointed and a handrail added to provide safer access.

Built in 1634 with later additions, Anstruther Parish Church is an A-listed building at the heart of the village. The building is already used widely by the local community with coffee mornings, craft classes and schools recitals; however there are plans to use the buildings as a performance venue for the East Neuk Festival and to provide lunches for people travelling the Fife Coastal walk.

The church has recently completed a £225,000 interior refurbishment which has made it into a modern, multi-purpose building, and total repairs to the tower are expected to cost about the same again.

The grant is one of 35 to be awarded through the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF’s) new Grants for Places of Worship programme. Launched in March, it supercedes the Repair Grants for Places of Worship scheme. In addition to providing money for urgent repairs, the programme is now also funding new works that support and encourage greater community use and engagement, helping to increase the number of people who take an active interest in these historic buildings and who will care for them in the future.

Colin McLean, Head of HLF Scotland, said; “There is a place of worship in almost every village and town across Scotland, providing a very powerful visual connection with our past.  Not only will this award secure the immediate future of this particular building, it will also empower the congregation to adapt it, where necessary, so it can be enjoyed more widely throughout the community and in turn enable it to be more sustainable for the future.”

Martin Fairley, Historic Scotland’s Head of Investment, said: “Anstruther Parish Church has been a focal point for the town over the centuries. This funding will ensure it continues to play its part at the heart of the community for many years to come. We are also delighted to see the church benefitting from the new funding criteria which will see it emerge with a renewed community focus by providing much needed facilities to encourage greater local engagement with this historic building.”

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