A four-year project to rebuild the Purbeck stone-clad church roof of the small church of Worth Matravers will be celebrated at a special service this weekend, led by the Bishop of Sherborne.
While carrying out various works on the roof in September 2021, closer investigation revealed that many of the stone slats of St Nicholas Church were cracked or damaged, that the Victorian nails holding the heavy Purbeck stone slates were corroded, and the wooden battens were rotten. The roof was no longer considered safe.
The daunting task of raising circa £650,000 to rebuild the roof of the Grade 1 listed building was given a fillip when, in 2023, an award of £250,000 was received from the Heritage Lottery Fund. Patron of the Roof Appeal, Baron Phillips of Worth Matravers, greeted the news at the time, saying: "What a wonderful gift from the Heritage Lottery. Alleluia! Our target has now come down from the stratosphere to one that we must surely achieve. We may soon have the joy of looking up and seeing building work in progress."
Subsequent grants were awarded by the National Churches Trust, the Dorset Historic Churches Trust and the Erskine Muton Charitable Trust. Fundraising activities and generous donations enabled the seemingly impossible target of raising £650,000 to be achieved within four years.
The fundraising activities included a Literary Lunch sponsored by The Oldie Magazine, the raffle of a Nicholas Hely Hutchinson painting of the church, kindly donated by the artist, which made nearly £20,000, Open Gardens, concerts, film evenings and fetes.
Church Steward and Worth resident, Liz Hoad, said: "The small team who have overseen the project are grateful to all those who have helped us and the numerous private individuals who have kindly made donations.
Award-winning journalist Simon Jenkins, in his book ‘England’s Thousand Best Churches’, describes St Nicholas of Myra church as a ‘foursquare no-nonsense church’, possibly a rather modest description for the church with its fine Norman arch and its original corbel table!
St Nicholas is currently working towards an Eco Church Gold Award. Whilst work has been undertaken on the church roof, initiatives have been taken to improve conservation management to enhance biodiversity within the church grounds. As part of our commitment to the Heritage Lottery Fund, plans are also in hand to encourage greater community use of both the grounds and the church.