St Walburge’s Church, Preston, awarded major National Lottery Heritage Fund grant.

The community of St Walburge’s Church, Preston, is delighted to announce it has been awarded significant support from The National Lottery Heritage Fund. This grant of £245,380 will help secure the future of our Grade I listed church, architecturally one of the most important 19th-century Catholic churches in Britain.

With this funding, we will be able to:

* Repair and restore the south roofs, preventing further water ingress and protecting the stunning historic interior.
* Preserve and make accessible our extensive parish archives – around 5,000 items dating back to the 1850s – in partnership with Lancashire Archives.
* Safeguard and share our unique liturgical heritage of Gregorian chant, working with the University of Central Lancashire (UCLan) Global Sound Movement.
* Pass on vital conservation skills through workshops with UCLan’s School of Engineering and our specialist roofing contractor, HCR.
* Train volunteers in heritage research, cataloguing and communication skills.
* Offer new opportunities for community engagement, particularly for the large student population in our neighbourhood.
* Strengthen our role within the Preston community and ensure long-term sustainability.

A landmark of national significance

Designed by architect Joseph Hansom and built between 1850–1854, St Walburge’s is the largest noncathedral Catholic church in England. Its spectacular hammerbeam roof is among the largest of the 19th century, and its 94-metre (309 ft) spire is the third tallest in the UK after those at Salisbury and Norwich Cathedral. A much-loved local and regional landmark, the church is also a beacon of Catholic identity nationally.

Alongside its architectural importance, St Walburge’s preserves a rare living tradition: the use of Gregorian chant in the Latin Mass, led by our Canons and Sisters, internationally recognised in the field.

A collaborative community project

This project brings together a wide range of partners, including: Lancashire Archives, to conserve and interpret the archives. UCLan Global Sound Movement and Lancashire County of Song, to safeguard and share the musical heritage. UCLan School of Engineering and Heritage Conservation and Restoration (HCR), to transmit heritage building skills. The project will engage volunteers, students and local residents in rediscovering and celebrating this unique heritage.

Quotes

Bishop Paul Swarbrick, Bishop of Lancaster:

“I am most grateful to The National Lottery Heritage Fund for this generous grant of £245,380.00 for priority work on the Church of St Walburge’s, Preston. I thank all those concerned who have worked to submit the grant application, including volunteers and professionals. From 2007 until 2010 I was Priest-in-Charge of this magnificent place of Catholic worship. It can lift the heart to spend time in prayer in its vast interior, but it can also weigh down the heart given the costs involved to maintain her, but she is definitely worth it! My prayers are with the Institute of Christ the King, Sovereign Priest, and their ministry at this important Shrine Church.”

Canon Amaury Montjean, provincial of the ICKSP in Great Britain:

“A wonderful news for the community of St. Walburge’s church as well as for the wider community of Preston. This most loved church in Lancashire becomes more and more a haven for everyone seeking sacred liturgies, music and heritage. A great achievement from the rector, his assistants and staff of St. Walburge’s.”

Sophie Andreae, Vice Chair of the Patrimony Committee of the Catholic Bishops Conference of England and Wales, said,

“This grant award is brilliant news for St Walburge’s. The roof is in urgent need to major repair due to its age and the sheer height of the building which gets the full force of the weather. The first third of the roof was repaired in 2021 following a grant from the government’s post Covid Culture Recovery Fund’s Programme of Major Works. This new grant will enable the important section over the Sanctuary to be restored and made watertight. Congratulations to all those who have worked so hard to ensure this latest grant application was successful”

Canon Gwenael Cristofoli, rector of St Walburge’s:

“This grant is a blessing for our community. We offer our grateful thanks to players of the The National Lottery for enabling us to protect the beauty of this landmark church while also preserving and sharing the richness of our spiritual and musical traditions.”

Louise Sutherland, Head of Engagement, England, North at The National Lottery Heritage Fund, said:

“Places of worship are some of the most treasured historic buildings across the North of England and many play an important role as a cornerstone for our heritage and communities. We’re delighted that thanks to money raised by National Lottery players, we can support St Walburge’s to take vital actions towards securing a robust and more sustainable future for this wonderful church while forging stronger connections with communities in Preston.”

-ENDS

 

About

St Walburge’s

St Walburge’s Church is located in Preston’s historic Maudlands district, on a site associated with St Mary Magdalene since the 12th century. Today entrusted to the Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest, the church continues to serve as a spiritual, cultural and community beacon for Preston and beyond.

Contact us:
Website: https://icksp.org.uk/preston/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/st_walburge_s_preston/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/icksp.preston#

About The National Lottery Heritage Fund

Our vision is for heritage to be valued, cared for and sustained for everyone, now and in the future. That’s why as the largest funder for the UK’s heritage we are dedicated to supporting projects that connect people and communities to heritage, as set out in our strategic plan, Heritage 2033. Heritage can be anything from the past that people value and want to pass on to future generations. We believe in the power of heritage to ignite the imagination, offer joy and inspiration, and to build pride in place and connection to the past. Over the next 10 years, we aim to invest £3.6billion raised for good causes by National Lottery players to make a decisive difference for people, places and communities.

heritagefund.org.uk
Follow @HeritageFundUK on Twitter/X, Facebook and Instagram and use #NationalLottery #HeritageFund

Brief to Evaluation Consultant

• Duration: October 2025 to June 2026
• Working time: Approx 15 days.
• Fee: £3,000

The Role 

Having secured a National Lottery Heritage Fund grant for urgent roof repairs and a wide ranging activity plan, the Church of St Walburge is seeking an Evaluation Consultant to support its reporting to the funder and its learning for future activity development.

The total project cost is £647,000, of which approximately £80,000 is for activity. The NLHF grant is £247,000.

Background 

The Church of St. Walburge in Preston is one of the most important mid-19th century churches in Britain and is Listed Grade I. The building was designed by Joseph Hansom and is famous for having the tallest spire of any Parish Church in England. The church is in the Maudlands district of Preston; so called because of its association with St. Mary Magdalene. This dates back to a C12th leprosy hospital dedicated to the Saint which then occupied the site.

In 1847, the architect Joseph Hansom was commissioned to build a large church and work began on construction in May 1850. It was ready for its opening ceremony by August 1854. The church was further extended in 1873 by the addition of a polygonal sanctuary, the central window of which is 11 metres high. Externally St Walburge’s spire, rising to 309 feet (94 m), is the dominant landmark in Preston and is one of the tallest structures of any sort in Lancashire. It is immediately recognisable, not just within the city but also from outside, and, after Salisbury and Norwich Cathedrals it is the third tallest spire in the UK. The steeple is reputedly constructed from limestone sleepers which originally carried the nearby Preston and Longridge Railway. Beneath the spire the tower bell chamber contains a single bell of 1.5 tonnes, which is the heaviest swinging bell in Lancashire.

The spire is home to a pair of peregrine falcons who return each summer to raise their young. This restricts use of the bell and access to the tower to the public. The tower is usually opened twice a year for public tours. There is an amazing view from the top.

Since 2014 the church has been in the care of the Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest (ICKSP), an Order of priests whose Mother House is in Italy and who serve 5 British churches, mostly in the north west. St Walburge’s has the status of a shrine church, rather than a parish. ICKSP is a Latin Mass community and within this tradition Masses and offices are sung in Gregorian chant – unique outside a monastic setting. There are services every day, with 3 of Sundays. The congregation numbers about 300 and is growing.

The church has an extensive archive numbering at least 5000 items which dates back to its foundation. It consists of correspondence, architect’s drawings and plans, photographs and a complete set of parish weekly news bulletins. The collection has never been fully explored.

All Under One Roof 

All Under One Roof has 4 strands of work

1. Re-roofing the south aisle to prevent water leaks and secure the church’s fabric.
2. Sharing our History – a project to catalogue our archives and create and exhibition and website, in association with Lancashire Archives, UCLan history students, and volunteers.
3. Sharing our Sacred Sounds – a project to preserve and share the unique sound of St. Walburge’s Choir by professionally recording core prayers of the Mass. These recordings, produced in partnership with the Global Sound Movement (GSM), will be contextualised through a podcast discussion featuring historical insights and reflections on the role of sacred music in the modern world and made available on open digital channels.
4. Sharing skills – a series of 3x half day heritage conservation skills workshops produced by UCLan School of Engineering and the main roofing contractor. Participants will include students and members of the public. One session will focus on the use of drones in surveying historic buildings and will include drone flights inside and outside the church. Other sessions will focus on specialised roofing and dry rot infestations.

We have the following project aims:

• To secure the future of our Grade 1 listed church by repairing and restoring the south roofs, preventing water ingress and further deterioration of the interior
• To understand and make accessible the contents of our extensive church archives so they can be used as a resource for the local community
• To preserve and share our unique liturgical heritage of Gregorian chant in partnership with University of Central Lancashire (UCLan) Global Sound Movement
• To share practical conservation skills with students and members of the public via workshops with UCLan School of Engineering and our main roofing contractor, HCR
• To train volunteers in heritage research, cataloguing and communication skills
• To offer opportunities for community engagement to the large numbers of students living in our neighbourhood
• To be better understood by and more embedded in the Preston community
• To become more sustainable as an organisation.

The principal requirements are as follows; 

• Prepare an evaluation framework for the project team to follow
• Deliver training in monitoring and evaluation principles and practical requirements for evaluation data collection in this project to the Sharing our History Project Coordinator and the volunteers (approx. 30)
• Liaise with Global Sound Movement (UCLan) on their evaluation methodology to ensure it is reflected in the framework
• Collect baseline data from volunteers re expectations
• Periodically monitor via the PM data on volunteer hours and productivity
• Periodically monitor with Global Sound Movement on metrics for Sharing our Sacred Sound
• Undertake questionnaire surveys for participants in skills workshops
• As volunteers and other participants (e.g. choir members) complete their input collect insights on their learning and experience via survey or interview
• Produce an evaluation report.

Our partners at University of Central Lancashire and Lancashire Archives have embedded evaluation protocols and will undertake monitoring and analysis as required by the framework. Additional support is available from the Project Team.

To apply 

Please submit a short proposal demonstrating your methodology and your relevant experience in evaluation of NLHF funded projects by Monday 20^th October 2025 to the project manager at