'Magnificent' church no longer at risk after £220k revamp

A Victorian church has been removed from at-risk register after about £220,000 was spent on restoration work.

Historic England (HE) said its project with National Highways (NH) at the Grade I listed Parish Church of St Anne in Denton, Tameside, had seen improvements to safety and public access as well conservation work.

The church, which was built in the 1880s, was added to the organisation's register in 2022 over concerns about potential damage caused by "vibrations from the nearby M67".

The church's priest, the Reverend Jules Mambu, said the work would have a "huge impact for both the church and the local community".

HE said the church was added to its Heritage at Risk Register in April 2022 following "concern about settlement around the font and central nave walkway due to vibrations from the nearby motorway".

At the time, it described the building, which was designed by architect Medland Taylor and brought together Victorian architecture with Elizabethan and Scandinavian influences, as "a monument of creativity, individuality and opulence".

NH project manager Betty Wilson said it was becoming unsafe for the "large community" who used it, including the nearby school.

"In 2021, there were concerns raised by the Diocese of Manchester about the interior brickwork cracking and settlement cracks around the base of the font," she said.

Between May and September 2023, contractors stabilised the building's foundations by injecting a levelling screed, a technique also used to level airport runways.

Engineers re-levelled the west end church font and supporting steps and re-enforced various settlement cracks in the masonry walls.

Repairs were also made to the wooden lychgate at the entrance of the churchyard.

The work was funded by a grant from NH and carried out in partnership with HE.

Ms Wilson said NH were "so pleased we could provide funding to support the restoration of this important building", which was "a piece of the area’s fascinating history".

HE architect Peter Barlow said it had been a "pleasure" to work on the "magnificent building".

"The specialist heritage skills that have been employed here, including the repair of the intricate terracotta tiles and the gilded wall mosaics, have produced first class results," he added.

Father Mambu said the work would have a "huge impact for both the church and the local community".

"We really appreciate the generosity and the commitment for helping us to achieve our goals," he said.

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