BCD Special Report on
Historic Churches
17th annual edition
33
non-worship related projects throughout the
North West. Faith communities in Cumbria
have also played a vital role in helping others
during recent times of adversity and loss
such as the foods of November 2009.
Te CTfC ofers support to faith groups
through its website, by directing people to
ideas, services and partners who can help. Te
trust is continuously developing relationships
with public, private and voluntary sector
organisations in order to highlight the value
and potential of Cumbria’s faith buildings
and to create links between them. It also
organises regular training events and ofers
direct support to a number of individual
churches. Two examples are St James’, Tebay
and Holme Cultram Abbey, which are within
small rural communities of the beaten track.
Holme Cultram Abbey (facing page, large
illustration), a former 12th century Cistercian
monastery, stands beside the Solway Plain in
the north west of Cumbria. Tis enormous
building serves a congregation of about 20
people. Following a fre in 2006 that left the
building a roofess shell, it is being repaired
and refurbished. Te loss of the internal
fttings has allowed the church interior to be
redesigned to maximise its vast, fexible space.
Tis now presents a unique opportunity to
look to new complementary uses. Te trust is
working alongside the Diocese of Carlisle, the
local community and Lancaster University to
explore what these potential uses might be. It
is hoped that they will have a ripple efect by
contributing to the local economy. Together we
have carried out a scoping exercise to explore
possible uses and held an event to show the
local council, politicians and businesses what
Holme Cultram Abbey’s potential is, and to
invite and discuss ideas and build partnerships.
One of the joys of faith buildings is their
capacity to surprise the visitor and St James’,
Tebay (above, top illustration) is no exception.
Its solid Shap granite facade belies its lighter
brick interior. Built in 1880 for the railway
workers, St James’ church incorporates elements
of railway architecture such as the colours of
the LNWR company livery in its brickwork,
railway benches for pews and a railway engine
wheel cover as a font lid. Although trains no
longer stop at Tebay, once an important railway
hub, enthusiasts often visit when steam trains
travel on the line. To celebrate Tebay’s transport
history, St James’ hosts an exhibition which
has been created by the vicar, the local history
society, school and other community members,
and was supported by an Awards for All grant
(funded by the National Lottery). Te CTfC
is working with the PCC, local community,
businesses and other organisations to promote
the exhibition and to widen the use of St James’
as ‘Te Railway Church’ by developing further
exhibitions, events and a local archive.
Tourism plays a major part in Cumbria’s
economy and the generosity of visitors helps
to keep some Lakeland churches ticking
over. While most tourists are concentrated
in the Lake District, the rest of the county
has much to ofer and churches can take an
active role in encouraging people to visit.
Each church in Cumbria has a page on the
CTfC website (www.ctfc.org.uk) on which
to advertise events and inform visitors about
other places of interest in the area. Te
trust is also working with the North West
Multi-Faith Tourism Association to develop
church trails and improve the welcome and
interpretation that churches provide to visitors.
Exploring the future
To help faith communities identify
opportunities for their churches, the CTfC
is working alongside various denominations,
particularly Anglicans and Methodists, to carry
out a strategic review of all the faith buildings
within two deaneries. It will involve bringing
a number of churches together to explore
how they might work in partnership or with
members of the wider community as well as
with visitors, businesses and others. Te review
will consider potential additional uses for the
churches, how to adapt the buildings to suit
these new needs including making sure that the
buildings are accessible to all, how to promote
the buildings to others, and how to ensure
they are well maintained and energy efcient.
Te fndings of the review will help the
CTfC, the Diocese of Carlisle and the Methodist
District to understand what the churches
need and to identify how best to assist them.
Depending on the fndings, the trust hopes
to help, for example by providing support for
specifc projects, improving the presentation
and interpretation of churches to visitors, or
through maintenance schemes and tailored
training courses. Te experience gained from
the pilot studies will also be used to roll out the
strategic review across the rest of the county.
For inspiration and advice the trust is fortunate
to be able to look to a number of Cumbrian
churches that have already undergone successful
changes. By broadening the use of Cumbria’s
churches, celebrating their importance and
increasing local support for them, the CTfC aims
to ensure that they will continue to serve their
communities for many generations to come.
Jemma Metcalfe-Gibson
is the historic
church buildings support ofcer for the
Churches Trust for Cumbria. Her role is
supported by the Diocese of Carlisle and English
Heritage as part of its Inspired! campaign.
St James’, Tebay: ‘the Railway Church’
A rural idyll: All Saints Church, Watermillock (Photo: Carl Bendelow)