St Alkmund’s was rebuilt in 1795. A few alterations were made in the 19th century, but starting in 1895 a major programme of work was carried out which transformed the appearance of the church.
Two World Wars and a drastic re-organisation of parish boundaries left St Alkmund’s short of money, and the building gradually fell into disrepair.
Since the year 2000 a major effort has been made to rescue the building. The work has included re-roofing the church, installing photo-voltaic panels on the roof, re-glazing the windows with handmade clear glass as they would have appeared in 1795, re-decorating the walls, restoring the painted East Window, installing a kitchen and toilets and generally bringing the whole building into the good state of repair in which we see it today. As a result of all this work the building is now available for worship and for lectures, concerts and drama.
.jpg "Restorations at St Alkmunds Church")
Notable assistance through the award of grants has been given by English Heritage, the National Churches Fund, the Leche Trust, the Georgian Group and many local Shropshire charities including the Shropshire Historic Churches Trust. Without this generous help the great work could not have been undertaken, let alone completed.
It is with great pleasure and gratitude that we record the names of the firms and craftsmen who have worked on the building in various ways:
Arrol and Snell – James Wade, architect, Shrewsbury
Dorothea Restorations, Bristol – Window ironwork
Holywell Glass, Wells, Somerset – East Window glass
Keith & Sue Brettle, Hampton Loade, Shropshire -Glaziers
Phillips & Curry, Oswestry, Shropshire – Roofing
The Green Electrician, Tushingham, Cheshire – Photo-voltaics
Paul Atkins, Ledbury, Gloucestershire – Stone Mason E.W Kinsey, Westbury, Shropshire – Kitchen and toilets
Keith Oliver – Churchyard railings
Bob Mainwaring, Montford Bridge, Shropshire – Iron handrails
Richard Higgins, Sansaw, Shropshire – Joinery
Robert and Richard Evason, Shrewsbury – Noticeboards
Michael Humphries, Westbury, Shropshire – Maintenance
Ron Offland, Shrewsbury – Decorator
Peter Odell, Bicton, Shrewsbury – Decorator of interior
Elcock & Wood – Work to Tower of church
Richard Davies, Shrewsbury – Signwriter
Carl Rowson, Westbury, Shropshire – Electrician
Thanks be to God for their talents so sensitively applied in various ways during this long programne of work over twelve years.
It was a great encouragement to all of us that the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings (SPAB) made us the John Betjeman Award 2005 for the repair of one of the Coalbrookdale iron-framed windows, and that the Georgian Group made us its annual Award for the repair of a Georgian Church in 2010.
St Alkmund's Church, Shrewsbury 