An historic Leigh church will be given £188k to carry out vital repairs

Essential repair work will be carried out at an historic Wigan borough church after it secured a grant.

St Joseph's Roman Catholic Church in Leigh has landed £188,000 from the Places of Worship Renewal Fund.

It will help to pay for conservation and repair work on the grade II-listed building, which dates back to 1855.

Fr Kieran O’Grady, parish priest of St Joseph’s, said: “This is wonderful news for St Joseph’s and for the whole parish community. The church is not only a place of worship but also an important part of our local heritage and community life.

“We are very grateful for this funding of £188,000, which will enable essential work to be carried out and help ensure that the church continues to serve future generations.

“This grant will make a significant contribution towards the conservation and repair of the west tower, including masonry and buttress repairs, the replacement of severely weathered stonework, repointing, the removal of vegetation, and investigation work within the bell chamber.

“As a parish, we are extremely grateful to Historic England for its generous support in awarding this grant. We would also like to thank Neil Fewtrell, one of the Archdiocese of Liverpool’s surveyors, for all his hard work and dedication in preparing the application and helping to secure this funding.”

St Joseph’s is one of 19 sites around the country set to receive cash, whose rescue the Department for Culture, Media and Sport says will reinvigorate local pride and ensure people can continue to benefit from their local heritage buildings long into the future.

Queen’s Hall Methodist Mission, in Wigan town centre, has received £824,000 to repair the roof as part of a project to transform the building.

Once the repairs are completed there, it is hoped the church can be removed from the Heritage at Risk register.

Heritage minister Baroness Twycross said: “Nothing tells the stories of our nation quite like the historic buildings at the heart of our communities. But too often they are a far cry from their former glory.

“Thanks to this funding, the much-loved buildings that fill our home towns with character will be keeping the doors open to communities.”