The National Churches Trust, formerly the Historic Churches Preservation Trust, is a British registered charity whose aim is to "promote and support church buildings of historic, architectural and community value across the UK". It carries out this aim by providing financial grants to repair and modernise church buildings, supporting projects to enable churches to remain open, collaborating with local Churches Trusts and volunteer bodies, providing practical advice, support and information, and working to promote public awareness of the needs of churches. Its forerunner was the Historic Churches Preservation Trust, whose functions it has taken over, together with those of the Incorporated Church Building Society.
History By the middle of the 20th century, the fabric of many British church buildings was in a poor state of repair. This had followed socioeconomic changes in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, including population changes, followed by neglect during the Second World War. Matters came to a head in 1950 with public statements, including an editorial in The Times. About this time the Pilgrim Trust declared that it was ceasing to give grants for repairs to individual churches. The Church of England's Church Assembly (now the General Synod of the Church of England) established the Repair of Churches Commission to decide what should be done about the problem. This resulted in the creation of the Historic Churches Preservation Trust, which was registered as a charity in 1953. Its first Secretary and Executive Committee Chairman was Ivor Bulmer-Thomas, a Conservative politician, the role of Secretary being taken over later in 1953 by Hugh Llewellyn Jones. In order to ensure that the grants it gave were appropriate, local advisory panels of architects were established, later replaced by the Committee of Honorary Consultant Architects, who continued to advise the Trust until 2002. At the time of its foundation, it was estimated that a total of £4 million was necessary to fulfil its aims. Money was raised in a variety of ways, including appeals on radio and television, exhibitions, concerts, individual and corporate donations, and a benefit dinner. Support was received from charitable trusts, including the Pilgrim Trust, the Dulverton Trust, the Manifold Trust, and the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation. From the time of its creation, the Trust gave grants for the repair of both active and redundant churches, although the care of redundant churches was strictly beyond its remit. In 1960 the Bridges Commission recommended that "a new fund be set up under a new Pastoral Measure to preserve churches of acknowledged historic or architectural worth". The Pastoral Measure of 1968 led to the creation of the Redundant Churches Fund (later the Churches Conservation Trust), which provided money from both the Church of England and the State for the preservation of redundant churches. It took until 1984 to raise the first £4 million. After that the size of donations tended to be larger. and by the end of 2005 a total of over £27 million had been raised. In 2000 alone over £2.2 million was received. The size of grants made to churches has varied greatly. Up to 2005 the smallest grant had been £33 4s 4d to a church in Mileham, Norfolk, in 1957, and the largest grants were of £100,000 each to a church in Portsea, Portsmouth, Hampshire, in 2000, and to Selby Abbey in 2005. The criterion for the award of a grant was "for essential repairs to any place of worship (with the exception of cathedrals) over 100 years old which is of a recognized Christian denomination and is open for public worship". Initially available only to churches in England, the scheme was extended to churches and chapels in Wales in 1987. The decision to award a grant is made by the Trust's Grants committee. Some of the churches that have been helped are now closed and have been declared redundant. These are now cared for by the Churches Conservation Trust. In 1983 the Historic Churches Preservation Trust took over the management of the Incorporated Church Building Society. This had been founded in 1818 to assist Anglican churches of any age, sometimes giving grants for new churches. In the early 1990s a Friends' scheme was instituted. In 2006 the Trust took over the functions of the Open Churches Trust. The Historic Churches Preservation Trust was succeeded by the National Churches Trust in 2007. A government scheme, The Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme, also assists in essential work to listed religious buildings, giving grants of £346 million from 2010 to 2023, mainly to cover the VAT on repairs.
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