Our History

The Friends of Essex Churches was established in 1951, under the chairmanship of the Rt Revd Dudley Narborough, Bishop of Colchester, and was first registered as a charity in 1965. We were one of the earliest in the country, second only to Kent, which started in 1949. A number of other counties followed suit over the next few years.

In the 1950s many of our churches would have seemed in poor condition compared to how they generally are today. Very little had been spent on their upkeep since 1939, and many had suffered war damage of one sort or another, even in Essex. Navestock and Coggeshall churches, for example, were badly damaged, and Little Horkesley was completely destroyed. Many more had their glass blown out. Moreover the Diocese of Chelmsford, which is the area covered by the Friends of Essex Churches, included then as it does now the East End of London, parts of which were very badly hit.

 

 

There was therefore a great need for a new source of funding, and this remains the principal purpose of the Friends: to make grants for repairs to places of worship of all Christian denominations in Essex and the five London boroughs that were part of Essex until 1965 (Barking & Dagenham, Havering, Newham, Redbridge, and Waltham Forest). The first grants we gave were for £25; they are now mostly in the range of £1,000–£15,000. The budget for grants in 2025 is £120,000, and since 1997 we have given away more than £4 million.

Since 2015 grants have also been given for improvements as well as repairs. This recognises the importance of updating churches by introducing modern facilities and equipment, thereby increasing their suitability for wider community use and helping to ensure their long-term survival. In the first ten years of the new system 53 grants totalling £436,750 were offered for improvements, as opposed to 156 grants totalling £1,165,200 for repairs. Unlike some county trusts we do not have any criteria based on age or historic importance, but make grants to all churches in need of them.

The Trust has no endowment, and all the money that is given in grants has to be raised. The Events Committee is extremely busy in this respect, and organises one or two social events each year in addition to the annual Gift Fair. The Committee also organises the Trust’s Christmas card, which is usually based on a stained glass window or painting from one of our churches.

Our single biggest fund-raising event, however, is the annual sponsored bike ride (Ride+Stride), started by the Suffolk Historic Churches Trust and now an important annual event in most English counties. Since 1984 this has raised about £2.9m in Essex and East London, half of which is given out in grants and half returned to the parishes nominated by individual riders.

We are also fortunate to have received many generous donations and bequests over the years.

In spite of the importance of our grants, the first object of the Friends according to our constitution is ‘to promote the education and interest of the public in the history of Christian churches and places of worship’. Over the years this has been achieved in a number of ways. Twice-yearly Study Days were initiated in 1989 by Canon John Fitch, which soon settled into a routine of a group of four or five churches being visited on the first Wednesday in May and the first Saturday in October.

Out of this grew A Select Guide to Essex Churches and Chapels, written by members of the Friends and edited by John Fitch, and published by Paul Watkins on behalf of the Friends in 1996. It remains a valuable guide to over 330 churches in Essex and East London, from Stratford in the west to Harwich in the east, from Pentlow in the north to Grays in the south, and ranging in date from St Peter’s Chapel, Bradwell-on-Sea (654) to Brentwood Cathedral (1991).

Dr James Bettley took over the Study Days in 1999, and passed the baton to Dr Christopher Starr in 2008. They are now are now led by a small team of different speakers.

Another aspect of the Trust’s educational role is the Annual Lecture that is held immediately following the AGM. This was inaugurated in 2013 by Simon Heffer. Subsequent speakers have included Dr Rowan Williams, Sir Barney White-Spunner, Dr John Goodall, Lord Petre, Quinlan Terry, Roger Bowdler, Emily Gee and most recently John Vigar.

In 1984 the Friends of Essex Churches amalgamated with the Essex Churches Support Trust, a body formed in 1977 to offer advice and encouragement to local communities and help them preserve their own churches. A revised constitution, adopted on 13 May 2015, changed our name to the Friends of Essex Churches Trust.