2012

WORCESTERSHIRE & DUDLEY HISTORIC CHURCHES TRUST

Patrons

Mr. Michael Brinton, Lord Lieutenant of Worcestershire

Lord Sandys, DL. Mr. John Berkeley, DL.

The Right Reverend Dr. John Inge, Bishop of Worcester

The Most Reverend Bernard Longley, Archbishop of Birmingham

The Right Reverend David Walker, Bishop of Dudley

The Reverend John Howard,

Chair of the Wolverhampton & Shrewsbury Methodist District

The Reverend William H. Anderson,

Chair of the Birmingham Methodist District

Mr. Michael J. Wall

Trustees

Chairman

Tim Bridges

3, Severn Drive, Upton upon Severn, Worcs. WR8 0JL

Tel: 01684 593257

Secretary

John Davies

Yarringtons, Alfrick, Worcester WR6 5EX

Tel: 01886 884336 E-mail: [email protected]

Treasurer

Jean Crabbe

Fetterlocks Farm House, Fetterlocks Lane

Shelsley Beauchamp, Worcs. WR6 6QS

Tel: 01886 812373

John Bailey, M.B.E. Richard J. Slawson

John Colley Michael Thomas

Andrew Grant, DL. Sam Driver White

Annette Leech

Officers

Cycle Ride Event Organisers

John Colley, Autumn Cottage, Sandlin, Leigh Sinton, Worcester WR13 5DN

Helen Peberdy, 79, Corbett Avenue, Droitwich Spa, Worcs. WR9 7BH

Hon. Publicity/Fundraising Officer

Stephen Dowling

Committee Secretary

Jacci Hunt

Front Cover Photograph: The Ascension, Malvern (internal)

Back Cover Photograph: Old St Martin, Worcester (internal)

Chairman’s Report

This is my fifth year as Chairman of the Trust. We continue to make grants towards a wide variety of repair works at some of the numerous historic churches, chapels and meeting houses to be found across Worcestershire and Dudley. These buildings are much loved landmarks, which are valued places of worship and reflection, and range in date from the the present day back to Anglo-Saxon times. In this period of economic recession many congregations find it increasingly difficult to keep their buildings open, running and well maintained, and so there is ever increasing pressure for assistance from grant making bodies such as ours. TheWorcestershire and Dudley Historic Churches Trust has used its limited resources to support places of worship as far as possible, and our grants for the year are listed in this annual report. We have participated further in the National Churches Trust’s partnership grant scheme, and a further £5,000 was distributed from this during 2012 in Worcestershire and Dudley. We continue to contribute financially towards the post of Historic Buildings and Communities Officer in Worcester Diocese. Recognition for this valuable work in helping to secure increased use and better care of church buildings has come with renewal of the contract for three years and further funding from English Heritage. Effective maintenance to hold back decay is of course a better solution for our churches than having to undertake expensive restoration projects.

The Trust continues to be served by diligent and enthusiastic trustees and officers and I am extremely grateful to each of them for all that they do to help and encourage. Sadly we have to record the passing in January of John Bailey, one of our longest serving trustees, whose kindly guidance, huge knowledge and love for our places of worship is greatly missed by us all. However, it is a pleasure for me to acknowledge the hard work of both John Davies our Secretary and Jean Crabbe our Treasurer, who ensure we are able to function efficently and effectively. Jacci Hunt continues to provide expert secretarial support with meetings and the annual report, which is much appreciated.

‘Ride and Stride’ is our main fundraising event, and I would like to thank John Colley who has now retired as both organiser and trustee for all that he has done over the years to make this so successful. Our thanks also go to Jean Colley for all her support. I am very grateful to Helen Peberdy for taking on ‘Ride and Stride’ in 2013 and for continuing to collate and distribute paperwork, organise the day in September, and process both forms and the collected funds afterwards. In 2013 we will be linking up with the Churches Festival, a major initiative in the Welsh Marches to widen the scope of ‘Ride and Stride’ on the weekend of 14th and 15th September, and we hope to be more involved with this in future years. We are always keen for more people to support the work of the Trust through ‘Ride and Stride’ in whatever way they feel able. If cycling is not for you, then contributions on foot and horseback, amongst other interesting modes of getting around, are extremely welcome, and of course sponsoring the participants or ensuring churches are open and welcoming on the day – and maybe hosting an extra event or activity in the building – are also vital roles in enhancing this event!

Haydn Rhodes and Jan Gill organised two further very successful car tours last June and July to two groups of churches in the Teme Valley and South Worcestershire. Look out for details of the 2013 tours. The coach tour last August was to a number of historic churches in North Herefordshire. This coming October Annette Leech and I hope to lead a walk around some of the historic places of worship in Bromsgrove, which had to be postponed from last year. I am very grateful to Steve and Carol Dowling for all their help with bookings and arrangements for these tours, and we extend our thanks to them for all their support to the Trust in recent years.

Further details of all our events and how to book are posted on our current website www.worcestershirechurches.blogspot.co.uk. We are extremely grateful to Annette Leech for all she is doing to enhance and update our new site, which will go live in June. Look out for further details of this exciting new development. Please visit it to see information on the work of the Trust and sources of funds, as well as historic pictures of local churches and links to other useful websites.

During the year I have continued to attend meetings in London of the Historic Churches Liaison Group (HCLG), which I currently chair and on which I have represented this trust and those of Staffordshire, Herefordshire and Shropshire. These meetings and the annual conference hosted by the National Churches Trust, which was at Lumen United Reformed Church in London, enhance links between the Worcestershire and Dudley Historic Churches Trust and other county and national churches trusts, with whom we work closely.

I conclude with a plea to all our supporters to continue to help our work with the historic churches, chapels and meeting houses in Worcestershire and Dudley. In the future you may consider making a bequest to the Trust, or by acting now to become a Friend and encourage others to do the same. If you are able to make a donation to the Trust by using the form at the back of this report, you will help the Trust with its valuable work. Don’t forget ‘Ride and Stride’ in September, our tours and keep an eye on our website for information on other Trust events.

Thank you for any help you are able to give us. I look forward to seeing you during 2013.

Tim Bridges

The Ascension, Malvern

During 2012, the Trust was able to give a significant grant of £7,000 to help with vital restoration work of the fabric of this unusual church. Although there was a major grant from English Heritage towards the work, this covered just over half of the total cost of more than £75,000. Our grant has helped to make up the shortfall.

The Ascension can be found at the top of Somers Park Avenue. It was constructed in 1902-3 in memory of the Venerable Arthur Livingstone to designs of Walter Tapper, one of the country’s leading Arts and Crafts architects, and this is his first complete church design. The tall building has a plain but impressive exterior, enhanced by Cotswold Stone details and a small gabled west tower. The interior is a delight, with high whitewashed walls rising up to lancet windows in the Early English style and a simple vaulted ceiling. Fine Arts and Crafts furnishings include a rood from Oberammergau, metalwork screen, the font with its elaborate cover, stained glass and a painted triptych. As with many buildings of the date, much attention was given to the design of detail throughout the building, such as door or window furniture and cupboards, and including the attached church hall, as well as to the principal fittings in the church.

The Trust is very pleased to support this major restoration of the Ascension just over one hundred years after it was first built. Through the grant, we hope that the Trust has helped to secure the future of the church building in this community between Malvern Link and North Malvern, so that it can continue to perform a very valuable role for at least the next hundred years.

Tim Bridges

Historic Churches Car Tours 2012

June Tour: Luckily, road works which denied direct access to St. Peter and St Paul’s Church, Eastham were completed two days before our tour. The church is Norman and many of the original features have survived; the two major structural changes being the 14^th Century extension of the nave and the 1830 replacement of the original wooden bell turret with a brick tower. We moved on to the Church of St. Michael at Knighton-on-Teme which stands alone on the site of a deserted village with panoramic views of the surrounding hills. Inside there is a wonderful 12^th century chancel arch. The church at Mamble is dedicated to St. John the Baptist. Attached to the church is a ruined brick chapel built by the Blount family, recusant Roman Catholics, circa 1560. With the prospect of a cup of tea and refreshments, we set off to St Peter and St. Paul’s Church at Rock. This is an impressive church. There are Norman features in abundance and some 1861 restoration by Frederick Preedy. The highlights of the day were the opportunity to climb the tower and a scrumptious tea!

July Tour: We assembled at St. Peter’s Church , Pirton where the view of the Malvern Hills is splendid. The church itself is picturesque with a 16^th century half –timbered tower. The north door has some fine Norman ironwork. Sadly, the medieval south door had been damaged by intruders a few days before our visit. Local knowledge took over at St. Denys’ Church at Severn Stoke. A churchwarden gave an interesting insight into the church and its history. At St. Mary’s, Kempsey a complimentary cup of tea and a slice of cake was appreciated on arrival. The church itself is a 12^th century foundation. Two impressive monuments, a 13^thcentury piscina and triple sedilia and 14^th century stained glass were enough to make the visit worthwhile. The wonderful tea at St. James the Great, Norton-By -Kempsey rounded off two successful and well attended tours. We would like to thank the vicars, churchwardens and ‘tea ladies’ for their support and efforts on our behalf. The full details of the 2013 tours will be sent out before the end of March. The dates for your diary are Sunday, 23^rd June and Sunday, 21^st July.

Haydn Rhodes & Jan Gill

Sponsored Ride and Stride, 8 September 2012

This year’s cycle ride took place on a lovely Saturday, with Worcestershire looking at her best! I set off on my very elderly bicycle (40 years old) with my even more elderly legs, having promised my husband to stay fairly close to Droitiwch and phone to tell him my whereabouts. He was confined to home with a bad back, so could not have come to my rescue if either bike or I decided we had had enough!

Having reached Dodderhill, I decided to continue northwards, where I think the pick of the countryside lies, but was disappointed to find few churches with ‘Welcome’ notices, and hence even fewer with sheets for signing in. So I couldn’t tell how many visitors had been out and about. I saw plenty of cyclists, but they were not on ‘our’ ride – perhaps they were practising for the next Olympic games. The most rewarding open church for me was Rushock, right up at the top of the hill, just where a greeting and refreshment was most needed.

I find the lack of churches being open very disheartening. Those that take part work really hard and raise a lot of money, but there are not enough of them. Many churches told me they had not received the information pack with sponsor forms, but they were sent to everyone in the same way, so I cannot understand what went wrong. Suffice it to say that income from the Cycle Ride has not reached £9,000, which means that funds available to help churches will be very limited.

Anyone with bright ideas for increasing awareness, please let us know! I would like to say ‘Thank you’ to those who did support the day – we need more like you!

Finally, another thank you, to John Colley, who having been associated with the Cycle Ride for many years, has decided to call it a day. I shall miss his help, but have persuaded a new volunteer to join me next year.

Helen Peberdy

WORCESTER AND DUDLEY HISTORIC CHURCHES TRUST

STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES

For Year Ending 31 December 2012

INCOME AND EXPENDITURE
				2011

			£	£
INCOMING RESOURCES
	Voluntary Income
	Donations :	R.D.Turner Trust	–	5000
		Grimley Charity	–	1000
		Others	–	85
	Donations from Grant Aided Churches		2403	2313
	Friends’ Subscriptions and Donations		1415	1139
	Gift Aid recovered		256	286
	Sundry Income		23	234
			4097	10057
	Activities for Generating Funds
	Annual Ride & Stride		7575	10500
	Gift aid recovered		1138	1443
			8713	11943
	Investment Income
	Bank and deposit interest		995	980


TOTAL INCOMING RESOURCES			13805	22980


RESOURCES EXPENDED
	Costs of generating funds
	Ride & Stride fund raising costs		403	330
	Charitable Expenditure
	Grants paid to churches		38000	33500
	Refunds to churches and chapels – Ride & Stride		3536	4807
			41536	38307
	Governance Costs
	Trustee secretarial and administration		879	1030
	Support for English Heritage inspired programme		2000	2000
	Trust Web Design		2472
	Independent Examiner’s fee		200	200
			5551	3230

TOTAL RESOURCES EXPENDED			47490	41867

NET OUTGOING RESOURCES
FOR THE YEAR			-33685	-18887

BALANCES BROUGHT FORWARD
AT 1ST JANURY 2012			67754	86641

BALANCES CARRIED FORWARD
AT 31ST DECEMBER 2012			34069	67754

WORCESTER AND DUDLEY HISTORIC CHURCHES TRUST

BALANCE SHEET

As at 31^st December 2012

		2011

	£	£
CURRENT ASSETS

Debtors and Prepayments	269	390

COIF Charities Deposit Fund	2732	6188

Market Harborough BS Deposit	25796	49846

Cash at bank and in hand	5667	13841

	34464	70265
Creditors : Amounts falling due within one year

Accruals	395	2511


NET ASSETS	34069	67754


INCOME FUNDS

General Fund – Unrestricted	34069	67754

Note: A further 7 grants totalling £20,000 have been authorised for payment by the Trustees subject to the appropriate faculty being obtained, a satisfactory report from the visiting Trustee, and work starting within twelve months.

STATEMENT BY THE TRUSTEES

The preceding summarised financial statements contain information extracted from the full accounts and may not contain sufficient information to allow a full understanding of the financial affairs of the Trust. For further information, the full accounts together with the Independent Examiners’ report on those accounts should be consulted; copies can be obtained from the Secretary.

The full financial statements were approved by the Trustees on 1^st March 2013 and have been independently examined. They will be submitted to the Charity Commission in due course.

The statement shown above was approved by the Trustees on 1^st March 2013 and signed on their behalf by

T J Bridges Chairman of the Trustees

STATEMENT BY THE INDEPENDENT EXAMINER TO THE TRUSTEES OF

WORCESTERSHIRE & DUDLEY HISTORIC CHURCHES TRUST

In my opinion the summarised financial statements for the year ended 31 December 2012 are consistent with the full financial statements in respect of which I signed an unqualified independent examiner’s statement on 4^th March 2013.

38 Lark Hill Richard T Barnes

Worcester

WR5 2EQ

GRANTS PAID IN 2012
Church	Place	Project	Cost	W&DHCT Grant
St. Nicholas	Dormston	Tower repairs & drainage works	£59,806	£5,000 (+£5,000 NCT)
St. Peter	Powick	Stolen lead roofing replacement	£13,520	£2,500
Old St. Martin	Worcester	Tower repairs and Bell frame fitting	£153,200	£3,500
Baptist Church	Alvechurch	Internal repairs and refurbishment	£132,500	£5,000
Methodist Church	Areley Kings	New floor	£22,999	£2,500 (+£2,500 NCT)
All Saints	Bromsgrove	Tower, roof & wall repairs	£163,180	£5,000 (+£5,000 NCT)
The Ascension	Malvern	Chimney repairs and drainage	£76,625	£7,000
Our Lady of Mt. Carmel	Redditch	Interior redecoration, new heating, rainwater goods and outside wall repairs	£170,760	£2,500
Holy Trinity & St. Matthew	Ronkswood	General door and concrete repairs	£24,724	£5,000
TOTAL				£38,000

GRANTS AUTHORISED IN 2012
St. Mary & St. Andrew	Knightwick	Refurbishment of benefactor name boards	£3,660	£1,000
Our Lady of Mount Carmel	Redditch	Interior redecoration, new heating, rainwater goods and outside wall repairs	£170,760	£2,500
St. Nicholas	Earls Croome	Reroofing, wall repointing	£38,244	£2,500 (+ £2,500 NCT)
Friends’ Meeting House	Stourbridge	Wall repairs and internal refurbishment	£39,660	£2,500 (+ £2,500 NCT)
Baptist Church	Alvechurch	Internal repairs and refurbishment	£132,500	£5,000
TOTAL				£13,500

WORCESTERSHIRE & DUDLEY HISTORIC CHURCHES TRUST

Bankers: Lloyds TSB Bank plc Independent R.T. Barnes

Malvern Examiner: Worcester

Barclays Bank plc

Droitwich Spa

(Cycle Ride Account)

Registered Charity No. 1035156

Constitution:

Trust Deed dated 21 October 1993, as amended by a Deed of Variation dated 23 November 2005.

Objects:

The preservation, repair, maintenance, improvement, upkeep or beautification of any Christian church within either the Church of England Diocese of Worcester or the County of Worcester;

The education of the public in the history and architecture of churches.

Trustees:

New Trustees are appointed by the serving Trustees. The total number of Trustees shall not exceed eleven. There is a sub-Committee for the running of the Cycle Ride that has one member who is not a Trustee. There is also a Sub-Committee for the arrangements of events. Decisions are made by the Trustees at their quarterly meetings. Administration is carried o

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2012

STATEMENT BY THE TRUSTEES