A Huddersfield church has been given a massive grant for vital repair work.
St. Bartholomew’s Church on Greens End Road in Meltham is receiving £142,300 from the National Lottery for re-roofing the church, improving internal access to the roof and providing insulation. The church will remain open as normal during this work.
Work is due to start this month.
Church Secretary John Mitchell said: “Thanks to money raised by National Lottery players the project aims to secure the church for safe and continued use, not only for the congregation but for use by the wider community. It is already used for none church events and the church is keen to enhance this use. Local brass bands, choirs, musical groups, children’s play groups and coffee mornings have been a regular feature and these will continue. The church is in the centre of the village and plays a prominent part in the many events throughout the year organised by local groups and individuals.”
Special events to commemorate the end of World War One will be held in the church in 2018.
The village war memorial is a feature on the church wall which is unusual as most memorials are standalones and not on religious buildings.
Mr Mitchell added: “The roof has withstood 231 years of weathering and raining in with patch repairs being carried out over the years. The use of buckets in the church to catch rain water is an unwelcome feature but not for much longer with the aid of this award.”
The church, built in 1786 is a Grade II listed building and is the second on the same site and within the Meltham Conservation Area. The first church was built in 1651 which makes it quite rare because few churches were built in the Commonwealth Period of Oliver Cromwell from 1649-60.
