Restoration

Restorations update

Shrine success in gaining key National Churches Trust grant

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National Churches Trust (NCT) has awarded a £4868 Foundation Grant to restore 3 corroded steel framed windows at Ss Peter, Paul and St Philomena’s Shrine Church, New Brighton.

This Shrine church, fondly known now as The Dome of Home, is a major landmark overlooking Liverpool Bay for the last 86 years since it was built and is cared for by the Institute of Christ the King. Since 2013, it has undergone five major restoration projects funded by National Lottery Heritage Fund, AllChurches Trust, National Churches Trust and private donations large and small.

While undertaking the redecoration at The Dome earlier this year, three further windows were found to need repairs badly. Scaffolding had been installed to allow access to the high ceiling, but unexpectedly, when the architect examined these high-level windows, the corroded steel frames pushed through. As this was not included in the large National Lottery funded project to restore the dome, drum and main Sanctuary roofs, it was an extra strain on already stretched resources. Thank goodness for this well-timed grant award from National Churches Trust!

The Rector of the Shrine, Canon Amaury Montjean said, “We’re very grateful to NCT for this Providential award. I’m hoping all the work, decorating, lighting scheme and these windows will be completed by Christmas, ready for visitors.”

The Dome of Home has begun a programme of activities to engage a wider audience: from free monthly Heritage Talks in-person or on YouTube entitled ‘Organ music shaped our heritage’; to conferences for conservation professionals; to Liverpool TV films about the Restoration Project; to becoming a Dementia-friendly church with a Postcard Memory Project with schools, the local community and Care Homes to save and archive memories that may be lost.

Canon Montjean added, “The church is open, daily, and welcomes everyone. The Organ Recitals are completely free-of-charge to showcase and explain liturgical organ music.  Next Recital is Sunday 12th December at 4pm. All welcome! We’ve even overhauled the heating system so that it’s warm when you pop in!”

Anne Archer, Project Manager commented, “Many people have happy memories of Merseyside’s own traditional English seaside resort – New Brighton. To celebrate the church’s restoration, we will be launching a Memory Project in January 2020 to collect memories about ’New Brighton: 86 years under the shelter of The Dome’, for local exhibitions, submission to our Guidebook and archived with Wallasey Central Library.”

If anyone is interested in submitting memories of New Brighton in general and/or the church, or helping with the collection and sorting, please email .

The National Churches Trust is the national, non-profit organisation dedicated to supporting and promoting churches of all Christian denominations in the UK.

It aims to:

* Provide grants for the repair, maintenance and modernisation of church buildings.
* Act as a catalyst to improve and bring resources to the management of church building.
* Promote the value of church buildings to the community at large.

 

Appeal: New Lighting & Chandeliers for the Shrine

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Our project to restore the main sanctuary roof, dome and drum has been completed successfully. The church has been decorated in a colour similar to the original 1930s scheme to match the beautiful marble on the main altar. This was largely and providentially funded by a single private donor. Deo gratias!  The contractor will begin to remove the scaffolding at the end of September. 

As you know, the Institute relies on Divine Providence in our undertakings, and to date we have not been disappointed. Many good people have responded to His inspiration to help, so thank you, everyone for your time, prayers, patience and financial donations.

However, during these projects, we realised that to make this church fitting for Our Lord, it was imperative to commission several additional work.

Repair the Sacristy

 

The windows were rotten and roof leaking. This work was urgent, so we instructed the architect and contractor to proceed immediately, but we still need extra funds to pay for this.

Lighting replacement

We must now replace the old, orange lights in the nave and Sanctuary for new lights that are unobtrusive, economical, easy to control and compliment the new decor. The contractor discovered many of the existing lights were broken when he inspected from the scaffold. These fittings can’t be reinstalled so, unless we want a dark winter, we don’t have much choice but to press on. We have only a few weeks left with the ‘bird-cage’ internal scaffold, so we can save money on the installation, if we can raise funds quickly. Our Lighting Designer recommended that the failing lighting installation be replaced with 52 LED floodlights that are dimmable and provide better glare control and better colour rendition. This is not cheap and unexpected.  We need your help!

New chandeliers fittings for the Nave

Have you seen the beautiful sample Chandelier hanging from the scaffold? Such lighting fixture would really enhance our very bare nave, more in keeping with its original Italianate design. This bespoke design in the picture opposite, is made of wrought iron, electrified with 15 LED lights on 2 tiers in an Antique gold finish, manufactured by a company in the South of France. The Latin Mass Society of England and Wales have very kindly donated £10,000 towards this exciting enhancement. But we still need more funds to buy three more!

National Lottery Heritage Fund has already funded the restoration of roofs and windows of the church for approximately £1.2 million but they won’t fund any decoration or lights. We will be contacting our previous funders such as AllChurchesTrust and National Churches Trust for help, but these applications take a long time to complete, and success is not guaranteed.

To download this appeal on a PDF format, please click here
To download the Donation / Gift Aid form, please click here

We rely on your generosity for this last but important phase to give glory to Our Blessed Lord!

Thank you and God bless you all.

Further National Lottery Funding secured

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Our beloved landmark church has been awarded £362,900 by The National Lottery Heritage Fund to complete the restoration of the majestic dome and main sanctuary.

This architecturally ambitious basilica, built in 1933, the church dominates Wirral’s skyline, and was nicknamed during the Second World War. Its distinctive green dome has been lovingly known as ‘The Dome of Home’ since mid-20th century, when sailors would see the church from the River Mersey. ‘The Dome of Home’ is one of the last iconic Art Deco buildings to survive redevelopment in New Brighton, whilst still retaining its original function, and continues to open its doors for everyone to enjoy.

Alongside the structural restoration work that will take place, the funding will also ensure that there will be exciting activities to enable specific members of our community to discover this historic gem for themselves. Working with partners such as Williamson Art Gallery, Wirral Borough Council, multiple care homes, community centres, and local schools and libraries, activities including a dementia friendly heritage package, a memory book and heritage talks will be delivered. Other activities include a Reformation Workshop for students, continued professional development for heritage workers, a conference for other churches interested in applying for funding and Heritage Open Day scaffolding tours and lectures. There will be something for all ages and abilities, and all happening in this wonderful building.

Previous projects have been phased since 2013 and supported through the National Lottery’s Grants for Places of Worship programme, restoring two-thirds of the roofs. However, concrete bursting from the Dome ring is putting previous investment at serious risk, and water ingress threatens the historic fabric. During the last project, a large lump of concrete fell onto a repaired chapel roof, confirming urgency. Fortunately, contractors were able to ‘patch’ repair onsite. This new project will cover the Sanctuary barrel roof with a membrane, repoint brickwork, restore steel windows and cast-iron rainwater goods treating the structural concrete problems, making the whole church safe and watertight.

Canon Amaury Montjean from the Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest and Rector of the church is delighted. He said: “This is our biggest project yet, which has taken 18 months of careful planning by a committed team of people! Thank you everyone, from the architect and structural engineer, to the wonderful volunteers, supported by prayers to ‘Our Lady of Good Success’ from the congregation. We have a special ‘Thank You cuppa’ for all National Lottery players planned to accompany a recital of church heritage at The Williamson Art Gallery near the end of the project, so watch this space!”


Canon Montjean added, “Match funding is going well, but not yet complete. AllChurches Trust awarded £12.5k in March 2019 for this project and we have received £15k in private donations. We still have another £17k to raise and launch a further fundraising campaign today.”

Project Manager, Anne Archer, was overjoyed with the news. She said, “Our volunteers have worked extremely hard planning this project, proving that we have the capacity to succeed. It is these people who have won this award for our church. The grant will ensure the dome becomes a living, lasting legacy for the New Brighton community.”

David Renwick, Director, England, North at The National Lottery Heritage Fund, said: The commitment of the Dome of Home’s volunteers is to be applauded, as is their drive to share the fascinating heritage of the landmark church with the wider community through a carefully considered activity programme. Encouraging communities to discover their history is positive not only for safeguarding the heritage itself but also for increasing wellbeing and strengthening community pride. We are delighted to support this worthwhile project, with thanks to National Lottery players for making it possible.”

The Dome of Home is recruiting more people to get involved in the activities, with the aid of Community Action Wirral. This contributes to helping Wirral become a Dementia Friendly Borough as part of their Action Plan pledge to help older people live well. Anyone interested in helping and joining the fun, please email ”

Diplay at Williamson Art Gallery
Our Memory Book Project