St John’s Bowling receives HUGE building heritage boost
We are so proud and thrilled to announce that the PCC of St John’s Bowling has received £820,200 of grant funding to continue the revitalization and development of our Grade II listed church building. As part of our ongoing long term strategy to protect and update the 19th Century building fabric, the PCC have secured UK Government funding from the Places of Worship Renewal Fund via Historic England.
St John’s Bowling is a nationally significant church building consecrated in 1842 after investment from the Bowling Iron Works Company. It was one of a small number of 19th Century church buildings in the UK built using an iron framed construction; as opposed to the more traditional stone structure. Today, there are only a few other examples of this building type, and as a result, it is protected and Grade II listed. Our building was built using locally produced iron by local people in order to benefit the local community. For over 180 years, St John’s Bowling has been at the heart of our community and today, is as busy and as accessible as it has ever been.
The PCC has overseen more than £250,000 of investment on the church roof alone in the last 6 years. This much needed work has included; fixing the stripping and repairing the Victorian slate roof, installing more suitable insulation, repairing roof timbers/eradicating dry rot and renewing roof guttering. This has been primarily enabled through the generous giving and financial support of the St John’s Bowling church congregations and local people.
This fantastic new funding opportunity with Historic England, will allow the PCC to continue the remaining renovation works to the church roof, windows, interior redecoration and church tower preservation/development. This is an incredible result for our community and will ensure that St John’s Bowling Church and community Hub will be able to continue serving local people for generations to come..!
Congratulations to our wonderful team who have worked tirelessly for so long to get this project over the line… stay tuned for more exciting news and future progress reports…