The Church Building.

St. Wilfrid’s Church, which is a Grade II* Listed Building, was one of the first churches to be restored by Sir Ninian Comper and, as such, it is one of the most beautiful and valuable buildings in the area.

Having such an historic building as ours brings great pride - and obligation. For a relatively small congregation like ours, preserving the structure, its beautiful decoration and its Comper work is a continual but worthwhile struggle.

Apart from the normal maintenance and upkeep of the church, we have in recent years carried out a number of projects:

• In 2003 extensive repairs were carried out to the stonework and pinnacles of the West Tower at a total cost of some £36,000 of which half was provided by a grant from Yorkshire Historic Churches Trust and half through our own fundraising efforts.
• In 2005, the Porch & Vestry Roofs were re-slated at a total cost of £12,000, all of which was met from parish fundraising efforts.
• In 2008 a pair of beautiful new solid oak doors were fitted to the South Porch.
• In April 2008 Phase 1 of the Comper Restoration Programme was completed bringing back to its original glory the decorations on the North Wall of the Chancel. The cost of some £15,000 was met through a legacy from the late Doris Fleetwood.
• In November 2008, Phase 2 of the Comper Restoration Programme saw the Chancel Ceiling cleaned and repainted as necessary. The cost of approximate. £9,500 was met from the St. Wilfrid’s Fabric Fund.

Our next projects are:

• Various external and internal repairs to the fabric of the Church – re-bedding coping stones, repairing damaged pebble-dash and internal re-plastering – at an estimated cost of £10,000.
• Interior re-decoration of the Nave & South Aisle at an estimated cost of some £3,000
• Interior re-plastering and decoration of the South Porch

This work will be carried out in stages and the timescale is dependent on the availability of funds.

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