ATTEMPTS to raise £1.2m to conserve one of the oldest buildings in Swindon have stalled after a bid for a grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund was rejected.

Parishioners from St Mary’s Church in Lydiard Park have been fundraising throughout the last year to reach their target of £370,000, which it was hoped would be bolstered by a grant from the fund. They received a blow when they were informed their bid had been unsuccessful.

However, hope is not yet lost, as the appeal has more than £150,000 in the coffers and the bid was praised by the Heritage Lottery Fund, who invited them to reapply next year.

Paul Gardner, chairman of the building appeal at the church, said: “We have narrowly missed out on receiving a grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund for conservation, but they said they have recognised we have a strong conservation bid and have recommended we resubmit the application with some revisions next year.

“The clue is in the word, lottery. They had £6m worth of applications this year and only £1.8m to hand out. We are naturally disappointed, but we are still fundraising and looking to resubmit this time next year.

“We need to raise £370,000 and currently, in promised and hard cash, we are up to £167,000. The next bid will be in spring next year.”

The building appeal members at the church will meet with the Heritage Lottery over the coming weeks to gather some advice on securing a successful bid next year.

“They have invited us to discuss how we can improve our bid and what areas to build upon, so we will be meeting with the Heritage Lottery Fund in the next few weeks to discuss things,” said Paul.

“The core message is that we have a strong bid. If they had said to us it was no good then it would have been back to the drawing board.

“It is an amazing historical building and one of the oldest in Swindon.

“In the life of the church a year is a blink of an eye and we are encouraged by the comments made.”

The news comes as Archbishop Justin Welby visited St Mary’s Church on Saturday for Heritage Weekend and was suitably impressed by the building.

“In broad terms half of the money would be going towards conserving the superb range of medieval wall paintings which are quite extensive and quite rare,” said Paul.

“New pews will be ordered as well as an education area being created for the public to see the history of the place. Work needs to be done to the monuments and various stained glass windows we have.”

Rt Revd Lee Rayfield, Bishop of Swindon and project champion, said: “Given the visit of Archbishop Justin it would have been terrific to have been able to announce the award of a grant this weekend.

“That was not to be, but we have had enough encouragement to be upbeat for the future of this local treasure.”

  • To donate to the building appeal write to the Revd Clive Deverell, 26 The Bramptons, Shaw, Swindon, Wiltshire, SN5 5SL.