'We are thrilled to have received this support' - Historic 'at-risk' church on Shropshire border gets more than £500,000 in Lottery funding for repairs
A church on the south Shropshire and Worcestershire border has been given more than £500,000 in funding to fix its spire and roof.
St John the Baptist Church in Nash near Ludlow, has been awarded a full Heritage Fund delivery grant of £561,305 in late December, the church has revealed.
Made possible thanks to National Lottery players, the project aims to remove St John the Baptist Church from the Heritage at Risk Register and to secure its long-term future both as a place of worship and as a welcoming space for local people and visitors.
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The Churchwarden and Project Manager, Mrs Bobbie Matulja, said: “This project is the culmination of 10 years’ hard work. All of us on the Parochial Church Council are looking forward to seeing it come to life, especially when the rebuilding work starts in the summer of 2026."
Among the issues with the church that will be addressed are the poor condition of the tower, spire and south side of the nave roof that have been a cause for concern for a long time.
An increase in the number and frequency of named storms has accelerated the rate of dilapidation in the last 20 years, the church says.
When St John the Baptist was added to the Heritage at Risk Register in 2015, Historic England pointed out that “at least part of the historic fabric of the building is at risk of failure or loss”.
Reverend Lawrence Gittins, priest in charge of the Tenbury Wells team, which includes St John the Baptist Church, Nash said: “We are thrilled to have received this support from The National Lottery Heritage Fund.
"This building has been the focus of community life for centuries and you can feel the history and the countless prayers that have been said here as soon as you enter through its ancient doorway. Funding will ensure that this historic building can continue as a valued centre of faith in the local community for many years to come”.
Although the main focus of this project is on saving heritage by repairing the church and making it weatherproof, the parochial church council will deliver a range of activities alongside the build which meet the Heritage Fund’s other investment principles of protecting the environment; inclusion, access and participation; and organisational sustainability.
Examples include a new website for St John the Baptist Church, a historical Timeline visitor experience, a botanical art workshop focusing on the churchyard flowers, making bird and bat boxes from the redundant spire cladding, hard hat visits and taster days and a community needlework project supervised by the Broderers at Hereford Cathedral who will teach local volunteers to repair and conserve the embroidery on our Victorian altar frontals.
The Church project team, led by Bobbie Matulja have secured additional grants from other funding partners including the Benefact Trust, the Friends of Nash & Boraston Churches, Shropshire Historic Churches Trust and Lasletts Charities. The start date for the project will be April 1st 2026, and the builders who submitted the winning tender - Dan Paddock Building Services Ltd., a local firm from Ludlow - are due on site at midsummer.
Liz Bates, Director, England, Midlands & East at The National Lottery Heritage Fund, added: “We’re pleased to support St John the Baptist with a grant of £561,305 as we celebrate the milestone of awarding £2billion of National Lottery and other funding for projects across the Midlands & East of England. This urgent restoration project will secure the church’s future within its South Shropshire community.”
Before it became a parish church in 1849, St John the Baptist, Nash was one of three Chapels of Ease to St Mary’s on the north bank of the River Teme at nearby Burford.
The original chapel was endowed by the Hill (de la Hull) family who were given land in the parish after the Norman Conquest and who lived at nearby Court of Hill for almost 700 years.
In 1330 King Edward III granted a license to William de la Hull to assign land and rent for a value of 5 marks for a Chaplain serving the Chapel of St John the Baptist where prayers would be said for William and his descendants. Although its origins go back at least another 100 years, this is the probable (but unverified) build date for the stone church found on the land today.
The other things that make St John the Baptist special are its rare early Reformation spire which dates to 1562 and its relationships with successive owners of Nash Court and the young people who attended Nash village school and Nash Court School in the 19th and 20th centuries.
