Exactly one month ago, St Mary’s Church, Beachamwell, was ablaze. As widely reported, the fire on Wednesday, February 2 destroyed the core of the church but left the smoke-stained round tower standing. The satirical fortnightly Private Eye’s influential architectural and … Continued
The blaze at St Mary’s in Beachamwell has cast a spotlight on one of Norfolk’s greatest historical assets. MICHAEL POLLITT explains the cultural importance of the county’s unrivalled collection of round tower churches A devastating fire virtually destroyed a Norfolk round towered church, … Continued
Help the work of the Round Tower Churches Society by becoming a member – and join the other 486 supporters. In the past 49 years, the Society has given grants of almost £300,000 to help maintain and conserve these special … Continued
A disastrous fire at a Norfolk medieval church has left the round tower standing amidst the ruins. Firefighters were called to St Mary’s, Beachamwell, at 10.44am on Wednesday, February 2 as flames had taken hold of the church roof. Within … Continued
A three-year extension of a VAT concession on church repairs to March 2025 has been warmly welcomed. The Round Tower Churches Society and Norfolk Churches Trust contacted MPs to highlight the urgent need for an extension to the Listed Places … Continued
One of the most iconic round tower churches in Norfolk has been vandalised. Windows were smashed at St Margaret, Hales, near Loddon. In addition, the communion rail has been broken off and stolen from the 12th century church. The national … Continued
A unique 20th century fresco can now be conserved at one of the six round tower churches in Essex – thanks to a grant from the National Lottery Heritage Fund. The £135,000 grant will also enable repair of the spire … Continued
In the latest quarterly edition of the Society’s Round Tower magazine, Richard Barham looks at some examples in round tower churches – at Bramfield, Lound, Hardwick, Wissett, Risby and Lamarsh. Visit any of these church pages to read the full … Continued
Almost exactly two years ago a North Norfolk round tower won a major lottery grant.
All Saints, Gresham, has now re-opened for regular services after a major refurbishment funded in large measure by a National Heritage Lottery Fund grant.
An invited congregation of about 50 supporters, church leaders and members of the Friends of All Saints Gresham celebrated at a special service at the end of October.
It has been a marathon effort as the £140,900 project involved repairs to the north chancel roof, the tower, windows and replacing rainwater goods, re-plastering and repainting walls. The church has been made weather and water-proof.
The round tower church has been transformed, thanks to the efforts of contractors and volunteers, into a bright and welcoming centre for community activities.
Julia Drury, chairman of the Friends, said that supporters had raised more than £12,500 since the group was launched almost five years ago. The additional funds have helped to pay for some of the work, which has been carried out.
She plans to stand down from her demanding role in March 2022 after five years of dedicated work. It was a further irony that she was informed that the church had been successful in obtaining key National Lottery Funding more than two years ago but a formal announcement could not be made because of the rules around the 2019 General Election.
Now the church can welcome visitors again for regular service and also for wider community activities, talks, lectures and concerts in the coming months.
Although further work to the upper stages of the round tower will be necessary in the coming months, the essential repairs to the main body of the church have been carried out despite all the headaches caused by the Covid-19 lockdown.
Michael Knights, who was Norfolk County Council’s heritage and landscape manager, describes the project’s background which started almost 20 years. It was quite a challenge to build the first “new” flint round church tower in the heart of Norfolk for … Continued