The roof at the medieval church St Peter & St Paul in Lavenham, Suffolk is failing. Stonework and windows are also in need of urgent repair. Water is coming through – putting the significant heritage inside at risk.
The church is considered of national importance; it is known as ‘wool church’ – part of a collection of churches built off the profits of the wool trade in medieval times. But it is now local people who bear the burden of ensuring this church can stay open and in use. There is no consistent UK-Government support available to keep churches in good repair – even if they’re hundreds of years old.
The team at Grade I Listed St Peter & St Paul are doing all they can to keep the historic place of worship in good condition. They have been planning this work and working hard to raise the funds for eight years. Thankfully, help is at hand. The church is to share in a Christmas gift – an urgent pay out from the National Churches Trust – of more than £900,000 designed to keep UK churches open and in use. St Peter & St Paul has been awarded a £20,000 grant from the National Churches Trust. On the recommendation of the National Churches Trust, the church will also receive a £10,000 Wolfson Fabric Repair Grant from the Wolfson Foundation.
This is great news for the much loved church and ensures it can remain open and in use and able to serve the local community for many years to come. Repairs to intricately carved stonework, beautiful stained glass windows, flintwork and the roof will protect the building from rain and frosts, making the church a safe and welcoming place for the hundreds of people who use it every year.
The church plays a vital role in the local community. It is not only used for worship but also hosts art exhibitions and music concerts and the nearby primary school uses it too. Many people are attracted to the unique British history at the church – so much so that the church hosts regular tours for students of history and architecture from the UK and overseas.
Claire Walker, Chief Executive of the National Churches Trust, said: "The National Churches Trust is delighted to be able to support St Peter & St Paul church to enable them to carry out urgent repairs to their beautiful building. Not only will this protect this important heritage, but it will help to keep the church building open and serving local people.Whether seeking quiet reflection, access to community services or a place to worship, the National Churches Trust helps hundreds of churches each year and with the support of local people, keeps them thriving today and tomorrow.”
Paul Ramsbottom, Chief Executive of the Wolfson Foundation, said: "At the heart of local communities sits churches: places of worship, places of support for local people and places of shared heritage. The Wolfson Foundation has a particular interest in the heritage of these remarkable buildings, and we are pleased to continue our partnership with the National Churches Trust to help keep them open, safe and in fine condition for the future."
The Revd Canon Simon Pitcher, Rector at St Peter & St Paul church, said: “We are very grateful to the National Churches Trust and the Wolfson Foundation for their help. Our church is over 500 years old – a medieval masterpiece of almost Cathedral proportions. The church community looks after this building on behalf of the nation, serving both local, national and international visitors. Since the Covid 19 pandemic the cost of building materials, labour, energy, and now VAT, have increased enormously and we cannot carry this responsibility alone. Without the grant aid that the National Churches Trust and Wolfson Foundation are offering to us we would not be able to address all the urgent repairs that currently need to be done. 2025 marked the 500th anniversary of the building of the church tower. To celebrate we held an art exhibition including works by local school children, a black-tie dinner with Revd Richard Coles, a family fun day with teddy bears zip wiring from the top of the tower, plus a number of other special services and events. These activities involved the whole community, young and old alike, and drew in visitors from across East Anglia.If we were not able to keep our building warm, safe and dry these community and cultural events would come to an end. With grant support we look forward to having a warm, dry, welcoming building, open every day of the year, offering a safe and peaceful place for everyone to enjoy.”
How the grant will help the church: Repairs to the roof will be made using traditional materials; stone, flint and lead. The stonework around several of the beautiful stained glass windows will be replaced. In places, the exterior walls will be repointed.
More about the church and the heritage that is at risk:
St Peter & St Paul in Lavenham is one Suffolk’s showpieces. In its current form, it is largely the product of a major rebuilding in the Perpendicular style carried out during the reign of Henry VII. This year marks the 500th anniversary of the completion of the church’s impressive tower. Standing at 43 metres tall, it has gorgeous views of the surrounding area. The architect of the nave was almost certainly John Wastell, one of the most important master masons of late English Gothic, who also worked on King’s College Chapel in Cambridge, Bell Harry tower of Canterbury Cathedral and the nave of the Cathedral of St James in Bury St Edmunds. Lavenham is among the ‘The Wool Churches’, a group that in Suffolk also includes St Mary’s in Kersey and Holy Trinity in Long Melford. These testify to the enormous wealth of the merchants in Lavenham and other nearby towns who were engaged in producing and exporting woollen cloth during the later Middle Ages. These merchants included the Spring family, whose coat of arms and merchant marks appear on the tower. Thomas Spring III (d. 1523), a member of that dynasty, is commemorated inside the church by a mortuary chapel enclosed by elaborately carved parclose screens, one of the many treasures of what is among the Diocese’s best loved and most visited churches.
The church is open every day to the public, so all can enjoy this beautiful building.
Claire Walker, Chief Executive of the National Churches Trust, said: “Changes by the Government to the Listed Places of Worship Grants Scheme have effectively imposed VAT on listed churches that need any major repairs. This will be unaffordable to many of them as the burden of caring for these buildings already falls onto local people and could lead to even more churches falling into disrepair or closing completely. There are already almost 1000 churches on the Heritage at Risk Register in England, rising every year. But this is about more than just heritage – churches host and run support for local people; mental health groups, food banks, warm spaces and parent and toddler groups, which would be impossible for local authorities to fund and run if the church was forced to close. We should be making it easier for churches to help local people – not cut off vital funding that keeps these important buildings open. The VAT scheme must be made permanent, and its cap removed in the upcoming spending review to protect our church heritage and to see these buildings kept open and serving local people.”