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BCD Special Report on
Historic Churches
18th annual edition
3
Maintaining the historic estate
The Church in Wales owns 977 listed buildings
including 29 per cent of the Grade 1 listed
buildings of Wales. Listing is undertaken by
Cadw (pronounced ‘cadoo’ and meaning in
Welsh ‘to keep’), a department of the Welsh
government. Our church buildings enjoy
‘ecclesiastical exemption’, which means that our
faculty system for approving works replaces
the need to obtain listed building consent.
This faculty system is similar to that in the
Church of England whereby diocesan advisory
councils (DACs) in each diocese advise a
diocesan chancellor (a senior judge or barrister),
who on the basis of the evidence presented
decides if consent (the ‘faculty’) should be
granted. Works to listed buildings are also sent
for consultation with Cadw and the various
amenity societies so that a broad spectrum of
evidence is obtained. DACs consist entirely of
volunteers from inside and outside the church
although there is a paid secretary in each
diocese to manage business and assist parishes.
Like the Church of England, it is the
responsibility of each individual congregation,
through its parochial church council, to care
for, repair and maintain its church building.
This is laid down in the Church in Wales
Constitution which acts as the rule book
for the organisation of the Church’s affairs.
A quinquennial inspection is obtained on a
five yearly basis from a conservation architect
or surveyor which helps to guide the parish
on its building priorities. Fundamentally,
however, these nationally important buildings
(or ‘heritage assets’ as seems to be the phrase)
are cared for by local people. Many have
commented that this is a great example of the
Big Society in action, but for church people
it is a natural and timeless commitment.
Local volunteers in PCCs take on a significant
responsibility which should never be taken
for granted. The Church in Wales, through its
paid officers, is committed to providing help
and support in various ways to those people.
The key issue is, and will always be, money.
There are of course, no easy answers to this.
The principal sources of grant are the Heritage
Lottery Fund and Cadw although in the case
of the latter, this is a diminishing source.
Over the last few years, Cadw has been able
to give around £500,000 per year (but only
to ‘outstanding’ buildings), with the Heritage
Lottery Fund contributing around £750,000
to Anglican churches. The National Churches
Trust assists in Wales (and would like to receive
more applications from Wales) and the Church
in Wales has its own grant scheme to assist
where it can. Overall, there has been about
£2 million a year coming to listed churches
in Wales. However, this level of funding is
insufficient to meet longer term requirements.
An analysis of quinquennial inspections
suggests that about £70 million needs to be
found over the next five years. Clearly, the
current funding sources (if maintained) will only
cover a small proportion of the total potential
bill. The rest will need to come from the hard
fundraising efforts of congregations and through
the sale of other property assets, such as
church halls and closed churches. In 2009, our
parishes spent around £3 million maintaining
buildings (listed and unlisted), so while parishes
are striving to do all that is needed there is
still some way to go. I have heard it said that
churches are probably in as good condition
as they have ever been. This is a dangerous
assumption as it implies that there is little to be
done. The picture is, of course, very mixed and
one of extremes where the good are excellent
and the poor are extremely so. There is a valiant
struggle underway by many parishes to keep
their buildings in good order and that is why the
current round of spending cuts is so concerning.
A unique scheme developed by Cadw in
recent years has been a Maintenance Matters
grant which gives a flat £500 to churches to
assist with basic maintenance tasks. Payment
(Photo: Friends of Friendless Churches, Richard Jones)
The Church of St Michael and All Angels at Llanfihangel Rogiet, Monmouthshire, which is mostly medieval, closed in 1973. However, it was saved from permanent closure in
2008 by the charity Friends of Friendless Churches, and it is now cared for by an enthusiastic group of local supporters (below left). (Photo: Welsh Icons, Dom Stocqueler)