News
Press Release 10 Mar 26
St John the Baptist Church, Spetisbury, falls silent as essential repairs begin
Dorset, 12 February 2026: The bells of St John the Baptist Church have fallen silent and scaffolding has gone up as essential repair work begins on the church’s medieval tower, thanks to generous grants and a determined two-year fundraising effort by parishioners. The six bells will remain silent for approximately six months while a £100,000 programme of conservation work is carried out on the Grade 1 listed building.
Steve Priddy, Treasurer of the Parochial Church Council said, “We are tremendously grateful to Dorset Historic Churches Trust for their grant towards this major project. This and other grants, alongside generous, often anonymous donations, as well as intense ongoing voluntary fundraising efforts, has made our project financially viable. However, that viability has been shaken by the news of imminent closure of the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport’s Listed Places of Worship VAT Relief Scheme on 31 March 2026, apparently with no transitional provisions. In common with many other parish churches across Dorset, the programme of our works began on 11 January 2026 and is scheduled to end on 30 June. At risk is the ability to recover approximately £10,000 of VAT – a cost never included in our original forecast. It is hoped that the new government grant scheme for repairs to listed parish churches, and administered by Historic England, will address this significant financial challenge in the weeks leading up to its introduction.”
The origins of St John the Baptist may well be earlier than the 12th century. The fine 15th century west tower survived the major rebuilding of the church in 1858. As well as being places of worship, many of Dorset’s churches such as St John the Baptist, house a treasure trove of artistic, architectural and decorative gems bringing beauty, priceless heritage and character to our landscape, our communities and our lives.
“Local communities put a huge amount of effort into fundraising so that vital repairs can be carried out and their churches kept open,” explained His Honour David Grant, Chairman of Dorset Historic Churches Trust. “Our grants give these projects a real boost, helping them get on their way and giving volunteers a lift when they most need it. These grants are an investment in our shared heritage and in the communities that gather around these remarkable buildings. We share a collective responsibility to keep these extraordinary buildings open and thriving to ensure that future generations can continue to enjoy them, value and be inspired by them.”
Molly Edwards, Church Warden of St John the Baptist added: “We are thrilled that the work is now finally underway and we look forward to the bells ringing again in the summer of 2026. Church services and activities will continue as normal during the works.”
Grants were awarded by Dorset Historic Churches Trust (DHCT), the Diocesan Minor Works Fund, the Erskine Muton Fund, Benefact Trust and the Garfield Weston Foundation.
Ride + Stride 2025 as at 22 Jan 26
The total exceeds £100,000, plus anticipated £12,000 in Gift Aid tax relief and is our best ever result. Many more riders and striders than last year gathered their sponsorship through JustGiving which reduced the workload on our book-keeper. A really helpful trend.
For some pictures from the day please go to our Ride + Stride page.
Friends News - dates for Lecture Lunches (as at 22 Jan 26)
Details of our season of Lecture Lunches can be found on the Friends page of the website.
Grants News (as at 27 Oct)
At their meeting on 23 Oct, the Trustees considered applications from 14 churches across the County. The majority were for roof repairs, which is our top priority. The Trustees took account of the very promising Ride + Stride result and the funds from several legacies to increase their planned grant budget for both the October cycle and for 2026. Accordingly, grants totalling £79,000 were awarded - full details of the awards will be published on the Grants page shortly.
Grant Application form - new version as at 27 Oct
After a thorough review of the 2024 grant application form and taking comments from DARs and applicants into account, we have revised the form for the Feb 2026 cycle of grants. It will be found on the Grants page of the website. Advice must always be obtained from the respective DAR before an application is started to ensure that all the necessary information is included first time.
Friends Application and Standing Order forms as at 20 Aug
We have made a few minor changes to the Application and Standing Order forms which we hope will make the process even more transparent. If you are keen to join our growing Friends membership, please go to the Friends page of the website and download the forms.
Future Events
We have widened the scope of the Events that we are happy to advertise beyond musical occasions to any event in Dorset that will benefit the fabric or usability of one of our churches. If you are running such an event, please forward the poster or notice in .jpg format and we will be pleased to upload it. E-mail to [email protected]
Trust celebrates its 65th anniversary
Dorset Historic Churches Trust (DHCT) celebrated its 65th birthday at Milton Abbey on 11 July with a reception for 170 people including architects, builders and clergy, and many others who have a direct interest in the maintenance of the county’s beautiful and historic church buildings.
Since the Trust’s foundation in 1960, it has given away over £2.6 million for maintenance and restoration of Dorset churches. In 2024, £130,000 was awarded to 26 different projects. Neither the national church nor the government directly fund any of these.
As Dr Tim Connor, a Trustee, explained the concept of “historic” may change through times but the need to repair our heritage only grows. It is to help with this task that the Trust exists. David Burnett, founder of the Dovecott Press, considered the romance of Dorset churches, and the Bishop of Ramsbury, who is the Church of England’s lead bishop for parish churches, emphasised the way that churches are buildings of hospitality and sanctuary for everyone.
The Chairman of the Trustees, His Honour David Grant, thanked the Abbey for allowing this event to take place and Milton Abbey School for providing catering and facilities, as well as fellow Trustee, Sir Andrew Graham, and his team for planning the occasion.
HM Lord Lieutenant, Mr Michael Dooley, attending in his official capacity as the President of the DHCT, thanked everyone for coming and said that churches offer sanctuary both in the physical sense but also in a deeper sense of harmony. He wished the Trust another 65 successful years, expressing the hope that everyone present would continue to work in harmony for the benefit of our wonderful churches.
To see some images from a beautiful summer's evening at Milton Abbey, please click on the link below.
Big grant handed over St Swithun, Allington near Bridport
Our Chairman, His Honour David Grant, handed over a large format cheque representing the payment of £12,000 following the completion of one part of a major project to preserve this fine early 19th Century church built in the Georgian style. The ceremony was attended by (left to right) Edward Morello MP for West Dorset, Richard Benjamin DHCT Deanery Area Rep, Mrs Mandi Sturrock Churchwarden, Pioneer Team Vicar and Acting Rector of St Swithun Revd Cally Burch, David Grant and Philip Sturrock, Project Leader.
St. Swithun, Allington is undergoing a major repair and renewal project to preserve its Georgian heritage while enhancing its role in the local community. Mandi Sturrock, Churchwarden, said, “this is not just a bricks and mortar project: it is to put a restored Georgian heritage building at the service of its local community." The work includes exterior repairs, water management upgrades and redecoration, with an estimated cost of £1 million. The fundraising group has already raised almost £300,000, which includes £12,000 from the Dorset Historic Churches Trust.
MP Edward Morello visited the church, learning about its plans to improve the building for both worship and community use. The church continues to serve the community with initiatives like a clothes bank and growing use of its hall for events. Mandi Sturrock thanked Mr Morello for his parliamentary support over the renewal of the government’s scheme to allow listed places of worship to reclaim VAT on building works. Mr Morello said, "It is incredibly important that we preserve our nation’s treasured religious buildings." The Revd Cally Burch paid tribute to the church project team for their vision and hard work in reaching this point. She also thanked the visitors for their interest and support. "It was wonderful", she said, "to see the church supporting the community and now able to be sustained for the future through this building project." (Salisbury Grapevine)
Morshead Trophy - awarded to St Mary, Sturminster Marshall
Dorset Historic Churches Trust is delighted to award the Morshead Trophy for the best fundraising parish of the year to St Mary, Sturminster Marshall. They raised nearly £4,913 in the Ride+Stride sponsored event in 2024 – an amazing result from a village of about two thousand inhabitants.
David Grant, the Chairman of the Trust, presented the Trophy to the church’s Treasurer, Edward Warren, at a gathering in The Old School attended by a large number of supporters including the vicar, Revd Jane Williams. David said that Sturminster Marshall were very worthy winners of the Trophy and had made a significant contribution to the total of over £104,500 raised by 148 participating parishes in Dorset.
Mr Warren thanked the Trust for this award and emphasised that it rewarded a large number of people who staffed the church on Ride+Stride day, made refreshments for participants and supported riders and striders, as well as actually raising sponsorship themselves. As is the case with every church taking part in R+S, St Mary's church was able to claim back 50% of the sponsorship to use for future maintenance of the fabric.
Historical record of grants paid out since the 1960
Our book-keeper has added the details of every grant made by the Trust since it was established in 1960. You can check the grant record of your church by locating it on the Churches page of the website. In the early days, grants of a few hundred pounds were seen as sufficient but also all that could be afforded. As the cost of work on our mostly listed churches has grown and the resources of the Trust have increased from Ride + Stride income and generous legacies, grants are now rarely less than £1000 and ones over £10,000 are not unusual. See below for pay-outs in the last 9 months.
GRANT PAY OUT NEWS 2025 (updated 26 Feb 26)
The award of a grant is always a welcome boost to the confidence of a church community who are faced with repairs to a leaky roof or failing timbers. But it is the day when the work has been completed and the bills have been certified that brings the pay-out. Since Jan 2025, the Trust has paid out to 23 churches as follows:
Wareham, URC to prevent water ingress £3500
Fontmell Magna, St Andrew towards urgent roof repair £10,000
Chaldon Herring, St Nicholas towards general repairs £7778
Chickerell, The Prayer House towards replacing wall ties £5000
Silton, St Nicholas towards replacing internal timbers £5300
South Perrott, St Mary towards re-leading of vestry roof £4200
Cheselbourne, St Martin and All Saints, towards re-decoration following lead theft £2500
Langton Long, All Saints towards stonework and re-pointing £6500
Skinner Street, Poole towards roof repairs £5000
Radipole, St Ann and St Aldhelm towards roof repairs £5,000
Tarrant Monkton, All Saints towards bell tower repairs £6,500
Kinson, St Andrew towards roof and rainwater goods repairs £5,000
Powerstock St Mary for replacement guttering and down pipes in cast iron £3,300
Wimborne, St John's and Newborough towards a lighting project £4,500
Okeford Fitzpaine, St Andrew towards a lavatory and servery £5,000
Alderholt, St James towards bell cote and chancel arch £5,000
Salway Ash, Holy Trinity towards a roofing project £6,780
Tolpuddle, St John the Evangelist towards copper covering of North aisle roof £6,000
Caundle Marsh, St Peter and St Paul towards urgent electrical safety work £750
Melbury Abbas, St Thomas towards roofing project £6,000
Ibberton, St Eustace for window repairs as part of larger project £5,000
Church Knowle, St Peter for internal roof repairs £4,000
Allington, Bridport, St Swithun to cure water ingress as part of a major project £12,000
Ride + Stride 2024 50% rebates have now been paid (posted 5 Dec)
Now that all the Remittances have been received and processed, our Hon Treasurer, Roger Blaber and our Book-keeper Becka Brierly, have completed making the BACS transfer payments to all the churches which asked for 50% or all of their R+S sponsorship to be paid back. If your church has not received a rebate and you think it was due one, please e-mail Roger on: [email protected]
The Trustees and Deanery Area Representatives recently enjoyed an evening drinks party kindly hosted by our Chairman David Grant and his wife Clare.
The Morshead Trophy Party 16 May 2024
The Morshead Trophy for the best fundraising parish of the year was awarded to St Andrew’s Church, Fontmell Magna, whose team raised over £2,500 in Ride+Stride 2023. The Trophy was presented during an evening party hosted by the incumbent, churchwarden and congregation of St Andrew's. The party was attended by members and supporters from many parts of Dorset who much enjoyed the delicious refreshments kindly prepared by members of the congregation. Mr Grant congratulated all those involved “A village of Fontmell’s size,” he commented, “has really punched above its weight to raise as much as it has, not in 2023 but consistently over the years it since it was last awarded the Trophy in 2012. Mr Fangen responded that it is a pleasure to be able to achieve this much for such a good cause. “We enjoy the riding and striding and feel we are making a contribution to the cause in this way,” he added. The Chairman also presented David with a replica of the Trophy which features the icon of St Kenelm, in the now redundant church at Hinton Parva (or Stanbridge) which is the emblem of Trust.
The trophy was formally presented by the Chairman of the Trust, David Grant, to the parish organiser, David Fangen (right), in a ceremony in St Andrew’s Church in the presence of the Churchwarden, Robert Wellen (left).
We have vacancies for Deanery Area Reps and Parish Organisers
The Trust has a network of Parish Organisers who help to run Ride + Stride for Churches, our one fund-raising event each year, and a team of Deanery Area Representatives who support the Parish Organisers and help churches to apply for grants.
Do you have a little spare time to help the all-volunteer Trust continue its work? You will join a well-established team of like-minded enthusiasts who bring a range of skills - chiefly organisation, networking and motivation - to make the Trust run smoothly and effectively in your part of the County. You will be given every assistance when you first start including an on-line guide pack called the DAR Handbook to refer to at any time and of course there will also be experienced colleagues to advise. DARs work to ensure that every church has a PO to ensure that Ride + Stride continues to be the huge success that it has been over the past few years. The DAR also helps individual churches prepare an application for a DHCT grant should that be necessary. We have vacancies now in certain areas of Dorset for the roles of Deanery Area Representative and Parish Organiser.