Nearly 400 Church of England parishes are to receive grants for urgent repairs to their church roofs in the first round of awards from the Listed Places of Worship Roof Repair Fund.

ChurchCare, the Cathedral and Church Buildings division of the Church of England, welcomed the grants announced for 372 parish churches and said that this would make an“immeasurable” difference to local communities.

All of the churches benefiting in the announcement will receive grants of between £10,000 and £100,000 towards the urgent repair of roofs, gutters and drains.
In a separate announcement, £6.9 million of grants for urgent repairs were announced for 24 Church of England and seven Catholic cathedrals in the final phase of the First World War Centenary Cathedral Repairs Fund.

The cathedrals are being provided with grants of between £12,000 and £800,000 for essential and urgent repairs ranging from repairs to roofs and stonework through to complete re-wiring.
Lichfield Cathedral, containing treasures such as the St Chad’s Gospel and the Saxon‘Lichfield Angel’ sculpture, receives the largest grant, of £800,000, for work to replace wiringand lighting systems in the medieval building.

Other cathedrals to receive grants include Durham (pictured), which has been allocated 568,000 for repair and conservation work on its central tower; and Birmingham, where £500,000 has been awarded to replace failed wiring and lighting with a new scheme to showcase its Baroque architecture and Edward Burne-Jones stained glass windows.