Oxfordshire Historic Churches Trust |
| The Oxfordshire
Historic
Churches
Trust was set up in 1964 with the aims of helping with grants to repair
and restore the churches of Oxfordshire, of encouraging wider interest
in them and of raising funds for these purposes. At its meetings during
the year
February to Sept 2009 the Trust approved 48 grants to churches and chapels throughout the County, totaling £258,000. Since its inception the value of its grants has amounted to some £3 million. Programme of events for members
Support us through Click
on the Just Giving button above for an easy way to give directly to the
OHCT and to raise money on the 2009 Ride and Stride |
 Bampton - St Mary The church received £20,000 for repairs to fabric in 2008  Sutton Courtenay - All Saints The church received £10,000 for repairs to the roof in 2008 |
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 Drayton - St Peter's The church received £2,000 for repairs to windows and electrical works in 2008 |
There are some 550
churches of all
denominations in the county, some 300 of medieval origin and many
dating back 1000
years. While their continuing primary purpose is to provide places of public worship, they are treasured for their architectural beauty and for their connections with national and local history and as focal points in their communities; without them our landscapes and towns would be much poorer. |
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In recent years the Trust has received nearly £400,000 of grants under the Landfill Tax Credit Scheme, whereby landfill operators may, in return for distributing a percentage of their profits for environmental purposes, obtain offsetting company tax benefits. Projects eligible for funding under these grants include places of worship, with the condition that they have to be within 10 miles radius of a landfill site. In Oxfordshire's case this amouts to about one half of the county. Most of the funds received by the Trust have come from WREN (Waste Recycling Environmental Ltd.), whose parent company operates two sites in the county. In total WREN has contributed to the funding of 67 projects, usually in conjunction with OHCT's own grant and many of these projects have now been completed. They range from Grade 1 Churches of national importance to small, non-conformist village chapels. The Trust and the churches that have benefitted from the scheme are greatly indebted to WREN for its generosity, without which the task would have been that much greater.. |
During
the year, between January and October 2009 OHCT paid out grants to the
following churches. WREN contributions are shown in the right hand
column
 WREN channels its funding for church restoration through OHCT and other county trusts in those counties within which it operates. OHCT welcomes this policy, and looks forward to continuing collaboration with WREN and the other landfill operators in Oxfordshire, notably Viridor and Grunden, both of which have made generous grants. |
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| The links opposite lead
to web pages
describing how churches and chapels of all denominations can apply to
the
Trust for a grant and how you can support it through your personal
involvement
and financial support.
The Trust is a registered charity* and its officials and helpers are all volunteers. *Registered Charity No 235644 |
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Questions about the Trust
(unless answered on the website) may be made to The Hon Secretary, Martin Thompson. Theft of Lead from churches - English Heritage / EIG guidance |
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| Maps showing the locations of many Oxfordshire
churches [by courtesy of Streetmap] The following link provides details of the main features of some 30 churches in Oxfordshire Links to our surrounding counties Historical Churches Trusts websites:
These web pages are managed by Ben Simpson to whom technical queries, requests for edits etc may be addressed. |
Link to Dorchester
Abbey site
Link to Oxford Diocesan site Link to National Churches Trust (formerly known as Historic Churches Preservation Trust) Link to Ecclesiological Society site Link to Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme site Link to Oxford Diocesan Guild of Chruch Bell Ringers site Link to the C of E 'Building Faith for our Future' site for bulletins, key facts and other information Link to Funds for Historic Buildings site Link to www.churchcare.co.uk which contains a great deal of useful information for those responsible for church buildings, including information about funding. Link to English Heritage's Guide to Easy Access to Historic Buildings Link to http://www.oxfordshirechurches.info/ (A site aiming to show images of all Oxfordshire
Churches and Chapels, run by Brian J Curtis) Link to http://homepage.mac.com/john.ward/oxfordshirechurches
(Another site showing many images of Oxfordshire
Churches, run by John Ward)
Link
to Church
of England Gazette site
Link to a flier (pdf file) about THE CHURCH EXPLORER’S HANDBOOK in which visitors to this site may be interested. Link to Oxford Centre for Spiritual Growth (OCSG) |
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