St Mary Aldermary, Wren’s Grade I listed church on Watling Street, has been awarded £626,829 by The National Lottery Heritage Fund to bring heritage craft into the spotlight and support community groups. This will help the church progress its plans to apply for a full National Lottery grant of £1.9 million once the first phase is complete.
The Lady Mayor, Dame Susan Langley visited the Grade I listed church, on Tuesday 27th October. She met members of the project team including Dr Lois Rowe, Principal of City & Guilds of London Art School and Revd Paul Kennedy, Guild Vicar of St Mary Aldermary. She also had the opportunity to witness some of the project’s heritage craft work.
From early 2027, students from City & Guilds of London Art School will work on site, testing stone cleaning methods and surveying the church’s historic stonework and woodwork. They will also design and carve 20 pilot stone bosses in Portland limestone, shaped with ideas from café users and community groups, for permanent installation in the church. The carving will take place in a temporary Heritage Studio, a marquee in the churchyard, where visitors and passing City workers can watch the progress.
The Development phase will also progress the church’s conservation needs and its journey towards net zero and support community groups, creating ways for people to take part in the life of the church. Liberty Kitchen, a charity and social enterprise supporting prison leavers into work, will help develop a hospitality role at Host Café and run food and confidence-building workshops for community groups. Stitches in Time will lead Threads of Belonging, a community textiles programme that begins with design workshops and a regular Stitch Club and builds towards a large textile hanging for the church’s side chapel. Volunteer It Yourself will bring young people who are not in education, employment or training to meet the design team, craftspeople and students, and new volunteer roles will support welcome, events and the Heritage Studio.
