ST ALBAN’S Church in Beaworthy has been awarded £55,900 for the re-roofing of the building.

Situated just over a mile from Halwill Junction, the church has been a focal point of the small hamlet for hundreds of years.

However it was last rebuilt in 1871, meaning repairs are of paramount importance.

But now thanks to the Listed Places of Worship Roof Repair Fund, the church will soon be given the transformation it requires.

The Rev Jane Lucas, vicar of the church was absolutely elated with the decision.

She said: “I’m exceedingly delighted with the news that Beaworthy Church will be given the transformation that it needs.

“It’s been struggling for years and has needed the repairs for ages, so for us now to be given over £50,000 will allow us to move forward as the roof is extremely disintegrated.

“Last year we applied and unfortunately didn’t get anything which was disappointing but now we have the funding.”

As ever with such complex building issues, work will be unable to start until certain criteria are met and contracts are signed with the builders.

But once the work is eventually completed — sometime by the end of the year or in 2017 — the Grade II listed building will hope to see the continued upward trend of members coming to their meetings.

Over the last year, the congregation, although small, has increased from just a handful up to a dozen.

Rev Lucas said: “Beaworthy is a lovely, quiet and intimate church which is very special in it’s own way and once the repairs are done I very much hope that we continue to see people keep coming through the doors.”

Two meetings are held every Sunday with one starting at 11am while there is also an evening service that starts at 6.30pm.

St Catherine’s Church, located in the tiny moorland hamlet of Temple, will also benefit from £70,300, enabling the building to be roofed and repairs to be undertaken to the tower and surface drainage.

Blisland Parochial Church Council, supported by a residents working group, successfully applied for the grant through the Government-funded Listed Places of Worship: Roof Repair Fund.

The church was facing closure following a recent quinquennial report that predicted the roof was ‘nail sick’. The PCC were advised that major work was needed within the next two years in order to retain the Grade II listed building in a weatherproof condition.

Canon Sherry Bryan, chairman of the PCC, said: “We were faced with an awful dilemma as the PCC also looks after Blisland Church which is a grade 1 listed building and requires a high level of maintenance. Our resources are finite and the thought of re-roofing was a daunting prospect.

“However the residents of Temple ‘rolled up their sleeves’ and set about supporting us with applications to raise the funding. We only started in September 2015 and have almost reached our target figure of £90,000.

“This recent award from the Listed Places of Worship Roof Repair Fund will ensure St. Catherine’s continues to serve the community and visitors from all over the world. It really is a unique and special place.”

The work will involve the re-roofing of the Chancel Nave and north Transept, as well as repairs to the tower roof. In addition all the rainwater goods will be up-graded to cast iron, with improvements to the existing drainage systems.

Karen Dickin, chairman of the PCC’s Residents Sub Group, said: “We are thrilled that such a tiny population has been able to safeguard what we believe is a national treasure.

“St Catherine’s is a special and much loved building. We are continuing to raise funds through our events programme and hope local people and visitors will join in over the coming months.”

The PCC hope to commence works in 2017 with the aim of having the restoration completed by February 2018 at the latest.

Anyone interested in events or volunteering should contact the group via [email protected].

This money is part of a wider funding package of £22.9 million to 401 historic places of worship across the UK.

The fund was launched by the Chancellor in his Autumn Statement in December 2014, and the funding package has now seen a total of 903 places of worship across the UK receive a share of £55 million.

The Fund is administered by the National Heritage Memorial Fund (NHMF) on behalf of the Department for Culture Media and Sport (DCMS).