Great news for one of Norfolk’s finest round tower churches. A five-year campaign by local people and the community has secured a grant of £631,462 to repair St Peter’s Church, Forncett from the National Lottery Heritage Fund.
When a group of local people set up the Friends of St Peter’s in 2019, the south Norfolk church needed urgent repairs including the chancel and nave roofs, stonework and roof timbers.
Now, the latest full grant will enable this work to be carried out over the next 18 months. At the same time, the church will be able to support a range of new ambitious community projects including nature and heritage trails.
The Round Tower Churches Society also made grants to support the investigative work, which revealed the extent of the repair work needed.
A fuller story will be published in the September edition of the society’s quarterly magazine, The Round Tower.
There’s other good news for churches, also to be funded by the Lottery Heritage Fund at south Ockendon, Essex, and the rapid progress being made at St Peter’s Haveringland – Norfolk’s so-called “church in the field.”
Photograph of St Peter’s, Forncett by Stuart Bowell in 2021