Church announces temporary closure for essential repair works
Thursday 30th June 2022An iconic church in Rochdale has announced a temporary closure to carry out essential repair works.
St John the Baptist RC Church in Rochdale recently announced an exciting plan to preserve its cultural heritage for future generations, in addition to kickstarting a number of community outreach projects, thanks to funding from the National Heritage Lottery Fund.
The NLHF grant also helped to unlock funding from Viridor Credits, Benefact Trust, National Churches Trust, Wolfson Foundation, The Prince of Wales’s Charitable Fund, Churches Conservation Foundation and Manchester Guardian Society Charitable Trust.
Work is due to begin on Monday 4 July and will last until December 2022.
A statement from The Parish Heritage Team reads:
“We are delighted that due to securing our National Lottery Heritage Funding we can commence work to repair the mosaic and dome of the Church. This work will start on Monday 4 July and will last until December 2022.
“As you will know large parts of the church are in poor repair and it is the right time to fix and restore these features so that we can continue to be an open and welcoming space for our parishioners and the wider community.
“The extent of the conservation and work needed is greater than first anticipated, which has meant that we have had to make a difficult decision to close the church while work is ongoing.
“This was not an easy option and was not our first preference, but it does mean that we can make the repairs more efficiently and safely.
“We will be celebrating our last Sunday Mass before the temporary closure at 9.15 on 3 July. While St John’s is closed there will be a vigil mass at 6.00 pm on Saturday evenings at St Gabriel and the Angels, Castleton, the other church within the parish. A full list of mass times is to be found in the parish newsletter.
“Whilst the building work is ongoing we will be moving forward with our volunteer programme and there are lots of exciting projects to join in on. Once the work is underway it will be possible to view progress from the narthex and when the mosaic is being repaired and cleaned, hard hat visits will be arranged for those who want a close-up view of the specialist at work. You can keep up to date through updates in the newsletter, on the parish Facebook site, on Instagram and our website St John the Baptist RC Church – www.rochdaleonline.co.uk.”
To find out more about this exciting project, head to: Rochdale community at heart of National Lottery funded heritage project
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