Barford Lottery-funded Repair Project

St Botolph’s Church in Barford, Norwich wins National Lottery support to secure its position in the village community for generations to come

Barford PCC is delighted to announce the completion of the repair project to St. Botolph’s following its success in obtaining Heritage Lottery Fund Grant support for essential remedial work and improvement plans for its historic church.

The failure of the centuries-old roof to the tower had resulted in water ingress adversely affecting the timbers and further weathering has damaged the main structure of the church and the wall rendering to such an extent that there was a very real risk of the building becoming unsafe and unavailable to the community it serves. The PCC’s plans also included modest changes to the internal lay-out to encourage a wider use by the community and improved access for wheelchair users.   

Professional opinion has indicated that St. Botolph’s has served the village since before the Norman Conquest and has many interesting architectural features which this support will help to preserve.

The work commenced in August 2018 and was finally completed just before Christmas in 2019. The results are truly excellent and the PCC is confident that the church will remain at the centre of the village for generations to come. The flexibility of the building is such that it can now support many different activities such as concerts, presentations, drama events and talks, making our very special place of Worship the hub of the village.

Rev. Tim Weatherstone has previously commented on the award by saying “We are delighted that we have received this support thanks to National Lottery players. This wonderful building has meant so much to the local community for over a thousand years and with the plans we have now progressed, thanks to the HLF, will make it available, and more accessible, for many years to come”