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Holy Trinity Church, Holdgate
The parish of Holdgate is historically significant as it was a major seat of power in south Shropshire before Ludlow was planned. The Grade 1 Church is hunched on a crest in the Corvedale Valley. It enjoys stunning views and stands in the south west bailey of what was once Holdgate Castle. The former motte is swathed in trees can be seen east of the churchyard. The church nave dates from the early 12th century. The chancel and tower were added in the 13th century. It has a particularly fine carved doorway and font. Sadly the building is in urgent need of restoration. The roofs need re-tiling; we need to do structural repairs to the tower and chancel walls and the very evident damp problem requires attention. The parish is now one of the smallest in the Hereford diocese and only about thirty five people live within its boundary. There are usually services here on the 4th Sunday of each month at 9am. There may be changes to this in relation to the Easter, Harvest and Christmas festivals. The Shropshire Way Footpath passes the churchyard gate. We welcome a steady steam of walkers resting here on the leg from Wilderhope to the Brown Clee summit. |
Restoration and English Heritage
In December 2011 the English Heritage Lottery fund pledged us a £150,000 grant towards the estimated costs of restoration of £225,000. We are delighted to be the recipients of what was the largest award to a parish church in Shropshire last year. We do have savings which have been accumulated over many years. An appeal was launched at the beginning of 2012 for £50,000. We are delighted to announce that we achieved our matched fundraising target with days to go! We are so grateful to all our supporters. The application for phase two has been submitted to English Heritage and we anticipate the building works to begin in the spring of 2013. Even so we cannot be complacent, by the time we have completed the restoration works our coffers will be empty. Any donations to keep us going will be gratefully received.We can be contacted via the website. In the News: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-17249907 http://www.highsheriffofshropshire.co.uk/news-2011/holdgate-church.shtml |