The Eastnor Church Tower Appeal Committee was formed in November 2017 with the formidable task of fundraising, organising and overseeing the restoration of the 13th Century Tower, building an extension on the north side the church and the restoration of the bells.
With generous support from the National Lottery Heritage Fund and Herefordshire Historic Churches Trust, as well as a number of local charities and community fundraising, the committee has achieved its goals.
The extension has provided much needed toilet facilities and a store room, together with a beautiful oak servery at the back of the north aisle where hot refreshments are served after each service.
The committee has also installed a flat-screen TV and Wi-Fi in the church. These enable us to present videos about the history of the Church and allow access to the heritage materials that were catalogued and compiled as part of the project. The Wi-Fi connection has also enabled installation of a card reader giving terminal.
The final stage of this project was the installation of a new boiler and glass doors in the main entrance porch in November 2024, with latin cross manifestations on each door. The new boiler and glass doors will help us to heat the church more efficiently and control heat loss when the main door is opened.
The original oak benches were removed to allow the installation of the glass doors and will be modified and reinstalled in the front part of the porch.
This will provide a larger area behind the glass doors for people to gather before the main door is opened.
The projects which were planned in 2017 have now been completed. This has taken an incredible amount of work by the committee over a seven year period, raising funds and navigating obstacles with professional efficiency during the very difficult times of COVID and lockdown.
We see first hand the benefits which these improvements have brought to the church. The extension and servery in particular enable us to be more welcoming. This was significantly compromised before. With our growing church family, more stay after the service to chat with a hot drink and with the reassurance of facilities nearby should they be needed. The improvement in fellowship which this has brought is most evident in the atmosphere and friendships that are forged during and after the services. The enhanced facilities enable the village Primary School to continue regular use of the church and make it more appealing for weddings and community events.
These improvements have collectively enhanced the life of the church and we look forward to 2025 and beyond with the church very much at the centre of our local community. For this we are very grateful to all those individuals and institutions that have supported the renovation and extension project.
