Celebrating 70 years of supporting historic Sussex churches

We are delighted that this year marks the 70th anniversary of the founding of the Sussex Historic Churches Trust.

During that time, hundreds of thousands of pounds have been awarded in grants to more than 500 churches and places of worship across East and West Sussex.

St Paul's, Brighton

How we started

By the middle of the 20th century, many historic parish churches right across the UK were in a very poor state of repair. This was the result of many social and economic factors but was exacerbated by the Second World War, during which repair and maintenance of churches largely came to a standstill.

Matters came to a head in 1950 with public statements, including an editorial in The Times. 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 and could be done.

The Commission determined that an urgent funding requirement of £4,000,000 was needed to bring dilapidated historic parish buildings back to a sound condition. In 1953, a national body was set up to oversee the process – known at the time as the Historic Churches Preservation Trust and now called the National Churches Trust.

The national authority set out to give grants for essential repairs and restoration of places of worship of architectural and historic interest throughout the country. It soon gave rise to numerous regional Trusts: one of the first to be established, in 1956, was the Sussex Historic Churches Trust.  

Our aims

Our primary aims remain the same as they were in 1956 - to help preserve the churches and chapels of historic and architectural interest, which are in use for worship, throughout Sussex.

In this context, 'historic' means buildings which are at least 100 years old and we offer help through grants for specific repairs to the fabric of the building.

Raising money to fund repairs

All the funds held by the Sussex Historic Churches Trust are derived from donations, bequests, investments and the annual sponsored Ride + Stride event. This is coming up soon on September 12 and will involve hundreds of fundraisers getting sponsored to cycle, walk or even drive to visit as many different churches as possible. Ride + Stride is a great way to see some of the wonderful historic buildings in Sussex and raise much-needed funds on a fun day out.

Check out our story about Midhurst vicar Marcus Collie who is embarking on an epic pilgrimage starting on Monday, August 24th in Rye and ending at Chichester Cathedral. Riding his Suzuki motorbike, Marcus plans to pray at 100+ churches over five days to raise money for the Sussex Historic Churches Trust.

Donations come from individuals, societies and some parishes. If you are not already contributing in this way, please consider doing so. Every contribution will expand the help the Trust can give.

How Grants are Awarded

All faiths, denominations and groups are welcome to submit a grant application via our website.

Our Trustees meet twice a year to consider the applications. The next Trust meeting is on 18 September and the application deadline is September 4.

The Trust favours making a significant number of relatively small grants contributing towards specific projects rather than a few large grants.  The current policy is to confine grants to works of essential repair to the fabric of church buildings. Priority is given to buildings over 100 years old and emphasis is given to maintaining the structure of the building and ensuring it is wind and waterproof.  

So far this year, a total of £40,000 has been awarded, including our largest grant to date - £24,000 to St Mary’s in Binstead. Among those places of worship which have received awards over the years are Chichester Cathedral, St Paul’s in Brighton, St Mary’s in Pulborough and All Saints in Hastings.