By Brian Wimsett – Editor Alkham Newsletter: It is a bit of a worrying time for the beloved St. Anthony’s Church at the moment. As many villagers already know, their vicar for the Benefice has officially retired, and the word from the top is that they aren’t going to be replaced.
For now, it is all a bit up in the air regarding what will actually happen to the building in the long run. The good news is that, in the meantime, some services are still being held, so the doors aren’t locked just yet.
Nowadays, you can’t just shut down a church overnight. There is a whole formal process for closing a church that is strictly governed by Church Law. On top of that, some church buildings are of such incredible architectural quality and rich historic interest that they absolutely deserve to be preserved for future generations. That is definitely the case for St. Anthony’s, which boasts a fine heritage and holds a proud Grade 1 listing.
When a historic gem like this faces uncertainty, often the best option is to pass the torch to someone who can properly maintain the building and keep it open to the general public. This could mean handing it over to local individuals, dedicated community groups, or even an organisation like the Churches Conservation Trust.
At the end of the day, St. Anthony’s is a massive part of Alkham’s identity. The absolute best solution here might be for us locals to come together and decide exactly how the church should be used going forward.
If anyone out there is keen to form a group to look into this, the Parish Council should probably be involved to help get things moving. If you fancy doing a bit of homework on how to set something like this up, there are plenty of details on the Church of England website—just search for ‘Closed churches Church of England’ to find out more. Let’s see what we can do to protect our village heritage.