Work begins on £200,000 church restoration

A grant for up to £186,600 has been made available to St Paul’s Church, Queen’s Road, King Cross, Halifax, with development funding of £20,900 earmarked for helping the church progress their plans to a point when they can apply for a full grant at a later date.

The church’s tower needs conservation work, including on its remarkable west window, which depicts “The New Jerusalem” descending on Halifax’s “Dark Satanic Mills”.

As well as the tower repair, another aim of the project is to raise people’s awareness of its heritage and its modern-day use as a place of worships, as a community space and as a venue for concerts.

It is hoped that work on the tower can begin by summer 2018 and it is anticipated the project’s total cost will be around £233,000.

Churchwarden Steven Mudd said of the award: “We’re delighted that we’ve received this support thanks to National Lottery players. The church has been a centre of worship and a location bringing the community of King Cross together for over 100 years, and it’s great to know that we are a step closer to preserving this part of Halifax’s heritage for another century.”

The style of pointing at the time the tower was built allows water to get in and deteriorate the stone work and during the development stage the church will be collating information about the building’s heritage to make people more aware of its architectural importance.

Completed in 1912, the building is a place of worship for a growing Anglo-Catholic congregation attracting worshippers from across Calderdale and beyond and also hosts the Halifax congregation of the Ukrainian Caholic Church. The building’s excellent acoustics make it a venue for concerts, which are usually free, and it hosts other community events, with the Parish Room rented out to other community organisations.