A campaign has been launched to raise £3 million to safeguard the future of St Mary’s ahead of its 900th anniversary in 2023.

Campaign 2023 aims to raise £2 million to fund urgent repairs to the landmark tower to avoid its closure, and a further £1 million to build an endowment fund to ensure the fabric, music and ministry of St Mary’s for the next millennium.

To find out more, please visit the Campaign 2023 website at www.stmaryscampaign2023.org.uk where online donations can also be made.

We were thrilled to hear we have received Heritage Stimulus funding thanks to @dcms, @HistoricEngland, @CofE_ChurchCare and the government’s CultureRecoveryFund. You may not be able to visit us right now, but we are still HereForCulture and working towards reopening later this year.

We are delighted to have been awarded a grant of £25,000 from the Covid-19 Emergency Heritage At Risk fund to mend a leak in the nave roof and one of £108,160 from the Major Works Fund (via the Church of England) to tackle serious water ingress problems from both above and below ground around the WCs, side entrance and historic chapter house. The Major Works Fund grant was increased to £137,024 when it became apparent that two of the roofs would need reconstructing.

Without this funding, there would have been no possibility of embarking on these essential projects, both of which will help secure the future of our wonderful building for the benefit of many generations to come.