Somerset Churches Trust

22 Jun 19 02:00 PM	Woodwork and Effigies in SW Somerset
13 Jul 19 02:00 PM	Mediaeval Churches of the North Mendips
17 Aug 19 02:00 PM	Fine Churches in NE Somerset
14 Sep 19 12:00 AM	Ride & Stride for Churches: Somerset
11 Oct 19 02:00 PM	Fine textiles in Bath churches

ROOF ALARM GRANTS DOUBLED TO £2,000

At the Annual Meeting held on 27th April Trustees agreed to match the £1,000 from Allchurches Trust towards the cost of installing a roof alarm. With metal prices on the rise theft of lead is more than likely to increase. Make the most of this one off opportunity to protect your church. Apply now before it's too late.

A Welcome from the Chairman

Welcome to our website. We are an independent, non-denominational trust raising money for the repair and improvement of churches and chapels open for Christian worship in the historic county of Somerset. The Trust, founded in 1996 under the name Friends of Somerset Churches and Chapels, exists to encourage interest and the involvement of all members of the community in the magnificent heritage of our fine religious buildings. Already, since its founding, the Trust has made grants of almost £700,000 to over 300 churches and chapels in Somerset. I hope to meet you at one of our church crawls. If you need any information about our activities or how to apply for a grant do please get in touch. All the information you need is on our contacts page. Dr Axel Palmer Chairman

Grant Applications and Closing Date

We welcome applications from churches and chapels of all denominations for grants towards repairs and improvements to enable wider community use subject to our grant terms and conditions. Applicants who are not already members of the trust must become members for at least three years in order for a grant to be paid. Grant applications must normally be received one calendar month before the date of the trustees meeting at which the application will be considered. The next closing date will be 14th June 2019 for the trustees meeting on 16th July 2019. Click here for more information on Grant Applications.

See Where We've Been on our Church Crawls!

A complete list is now available of every church and chapel we have ever visited since the trust was formed in 1996. You can search by the date of the first visit or alphabetically. Click on the links below to go straight to the lists. If there is somewhere we have missed where you would like to visit then do let us know.

Churches and Chapels visited by date of first visit.
Alphabetical list of churches and chapels visited.

Another Successful Annual Meeting

The Church Rooms at Stogursey were full to capacity as members enjoyed another action packed Annual Meeting on Saturday 27th April. Business reports were quickly concluded to allow time for the presentation of Awards for the Ride+Stride event held on 8th September 2018.

Philip Skelhorn collected the award on behalf of Holy Trinity Sutton Montis for the church that raised the most money and Michael Auton (Ride+Stride Coordinator) collected the award on behalf of The Revd Jonathan Morris who was the individual raising the most in sponsorship.

A special award was given by our Chairman, Axel Palmer to Alasdair Green (aged four) who was the youngest cyclist to take part, while Granny looks on approvingly. It was then over to Bob Croft, trustee and Somerset County Archaeologist to tell us about the history of Stoke Courcy now known as Stogursey.

This was followed by a visit to St Andrew's Church and then onto Fairfield House, home of Elizabeth, Lady Gass, DCVO a former Lord-Lieutenant of Somerset and one of our Patrons.
.
Lady Gass gave us a conducted tour of her home followed by Bob Croft giving a brief overview of the archaeological investigations that have been undertaken on the site. The only complaint was that there was just so much of interest there was not enough time to take it all in.

Our Next Event is on Saturday June 22nd.

A Tour of Woodwork and Effigies in SW Somerset Churches

2.00 pm start at SS Peter and Paul, Churchstanton, TA3 7QE. Then to St Mary, Buckland St Mary, TA20 3SL, then St Andrew, Whitestaunton, TA20 3DL and ending at St Nicholas, Combe St Nicholas, TA20 3NE. The tour is lead by Julian Gibbs, Curator for the National Trust from 1979 - 2010, and Lucy Wood, a former Senior Curatar of Furniture at the V&A. Book with William Newsom: email william@williamnewsom.co.uk tel: 01963 441533.

See Events Calendar for full details

Click here to see the full programme for 2019.

Links Page

The Somerset Historic Environment Record is part of the much larger South West Heritage Trust website. Our Links Page has links to this website and over twenty other organisations concerned with religious and historic buildings.

Publications

Click here for the following: Books for Sale, Annual ReportsTrustees Annual Reports and Accounts, Press Releases, Church Card Archive, Churches and Chapels Visited by Date, Churches and Chapels visited by Location, Policies and Procedures

Our Patron Kevin McCloud, the presenter of Grand Designs says:

“Our churches are literally our historic and cultural touchstones – in our landscapes, built environment, family histories and our communities. They embody faith, beauty, craftsmanship and collective memory. So we should cherish them.”

News from The National Churches Trust

Foundation Grants are available to places of worship of all Christian denominations around the United Kingdom towards work that addresses urgent maintenance, as identified as a priority in a recent Quinquennial Inspection Report or survey. The work should form a stand-alone projects costing between £1,000 and £10,000 excluding VAT. Grants range from £500 to £3,000. The next deadline is 12 May 2019 for a decision in July.

Maintenance Booker www.maintenancebooker.org.uk Based on the principle that prevention is better than cure MaintenanceBooker can help churches and chapels avoid having to carry out major repairs to their buildings by making it easy to carry out regular maintenance. The service is available to churches, chapels and historic buildings across England and Wales and provides an online ‘one stop shop’ where churches and chapels can book accredited contractors for services including gutter clearance, tree maintenance, lightning protection system inspections and asbestos management services.

Explore Churches www.explorechurches.org Churches, chapels and meeting houses are literally 'treasure houses' of heritage, history and community. Through ExploreChurches the National Churches Trust aims to develop a high quality resource for visitors and churches alike. We would like to include all churches, chapels and meeting houses that are open for visitors (even if this is only during specific hours or on certain days).

Click here for a copy of the complete 2019 to 2023 Programme.

Go to our Grants Section for more details.

National Churches Trust Grants

The National Churches Trust has announced its Grant Programme for 2019 - 2023.

As winter approaches, Simon Colledge remembers a lovely early summer's day

Simon Colledge recalls the Church Crawl on 19th May to St Michael, Wayford (interior pictured left) St Stephen, Winsham and St Thomas, Cricket St Thomas. Click heading for full details.

Cheddar Church Tour

Fifteen hardy souls braved the wintery weather to enjoy a tour of Cheddar Churches and were rewarded with a wondrous spread at the Baptist Church.(pictured left)