News
Annual Report and Review published (28 Apr 26)
The report on the work of the Trust, Ride + Stride results and our approved accounts has been published. It can be read by clicking on the link on the About Us page of this website. Paper copies for churches will be sent out to Church Reps and also to Churchwardens attending their annual Visitation prior to taking up or resuming office. Paper copies will also be sent by post to all our Friends in the near future. We hope that you will find it informative and enjoyable - our 65th year has been a great success and we owe that to our supporters across the County who work as a great team with the Church Reps, Deanery Area Reps and Trustees. We are also very grateful for the support of our Webmaster, R+S Administrator and Book-keeper who do so much behind the scenes to keep DHCT a vigorous enterprise.
Grant News (25 Apr 26 )
At their meeting in March, the Trustees were pleased to award grants totalling £55,250 to 12 churches. Work to be supported ranges from major roof repairs, window stonework, electrical wiring and he introduction of facilities for wider use of the buildings. Details can be found on the Grants page.
Church Crawls for 2026 (24 Apr 26)
The dates and names of the church which we will visit are now up on the Friends page. Full details will be sent to Friends and also published one at a time there. We look forward to welcoming all our existing Friends. If you are not yet signed up, please consider joining - fill out the two forms and send them off. You will then receive an invitation to every Crawl.
Ride + Stride 2025 final result
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.
Friends Application and Standing Order forms
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.
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
The Trustees and Deanery Area Representatives recently enjoyed an evening drinks party kindly hosted by our Chairman David Grant and his wife Clare.
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.