Two churches in the Diocese of Truro are to share in a £391,000 funding payout from the National Churches Trust.

A £10,000 National Churches Trust Repair Grant will help to fund urgent and essential repairs to the roof, tower, and windows of St Mawgan-in-Meneage church and a further £10,000 will help fund urgent repairs to make St Neot church watertight.

At St Mawgan-in-Meneage, a 13th century, Grade 1 Listed parish church in the village of Mawgan, the grant will help fund urgent repairs to the roof slates, which are slipping and allow water in. The slates will be replaced, along with stabilisation and re-pointing of the tower with traditional lime-based materials, and repairs to guttering. These repairs will prevent damp and stabilise the fabric of the building.

The work this grant will allow is part of a bigger project that also includes improvements to internal lighting, a heritage display, and the creation of a Living Churchyard for the whole community, with seating, bird boxes, and trails.

St Neot, a Grade I Listed granite building, has some of the finest examples of pre-reformation stained glass windows in the country, with 17 windows of 15th and 16th century workmanship. Although extensively restored in the 19th century by John Hedgeland, at least half the glass is original. The finest window, with most of the original features remaining, depicts Creation and the Fall.

Here the grant will make the roof watertight. Initial architects’ surveys for the project discovered the condition of the roof was worse than previously thought. The tower will be repointed, and water damage to the masonry and timber repaired. Metalwork on the clock and bells also needs attention. Two of the tower parapets will have to be dismantled and rebuilt.

Access to the tower is particularly important, as this is where the disabled access is. The project will ensure that St Neot’s remains accessible to all. The church is already central to the community of St Neot’s, used for bell-ringing training, concerts, choir rehearsals, school visits, and as a very popular wedding venue. It is open all year round, welcoming visitors to this beautiful part of Cornwall with multi-lingual guidebooks.

St Mawgan-in-Meneage and St Neot are two of 29 churches and chapels in the UK to benefit from the latest grants from the National Churches Trust, the UK church repair and support charity.

Broadcaster and Journalist Huw Edwards, Vice-President of the National Churches Trust said: “I’m delighted that the futures of St Mawgan-in-Meneage church and St Neot’s church are being safeguarded by National Churches Trusts grants. The funding will ensure that these beautiful churches can continue to serve local people for many years to come.

“The financial and practical support provided by the National Churches Trust helps many of the UK’s churches, chapels and meeting houses continue to flourish at the heart of their communities, by preserving their architecture and keeping their facilities up to date.

“Churches and chapels may be historic buildings, but they can be part of our future, too.”