THE Church of St Peter Ad Vincula, in Ashwater, has received a grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) to help with much-needed conservation work.

The grant will enable the parochial church council to carry out the repairs needed to the important listed building.

Under the HLF’s ‘Grants for Places of Worship Scheme’, the church’s tower and valley gutter are receiving funding of £188,900 that will save this Grade 1 listed building for the future.

As part of the grant the parochial church council is hosting a number of activities to encourage people to visit and become aware of the church’s rich heritage.

St Peter Ad Vincula recently hosted a talk on its prized ‘Carminow Memorial’, which was given by local historian Dr Trevor May and conservator Lynne Humphries, founder of specialist Conservation Company Humphries and Jones.

Speaking about the event and the work needed to conserve this beautiful building, Lynne said: “It is always a pleasure to give presentations like this one, especially when the audience shows such keen interest. It gives us the perfect opportunity to talk to people about the different facets of the conservation work we do. In this case it involved a thorough investigation into the condition of the monument and putting forward recommendations, just the first step in conserving this monument for the future.

“A fascinating aspect of this project was to discover the extraordinary lineage of the Carminows, particularly with respect to the history of Cornwall and Devon and their links with the Courtenay and Carew families.

“The monument in itself was intriguing and can be linked stylistically to other fine monuments across the country.

“In terms of conservation it has had a rather sad and chequered history. However, it did survive the reformation of the 16th century, when thousands of monuments and sculptures across the country were destroyed, making this a particularly important find.

“It is likely that it was once highly decorated with bright pigments and gold leaf, unfortunately the more puritan ages that followed, saw it covered it in many layers of limewash!”

An audience of over 40 was in attendance to hear about the history of the memorial, together with the conservation techniques, which it is hoped could save the memorial for future generations.