Tower Turret Appeal
| Benefactor | Amount |
|---|---|
| Community Fundraising to 1/7/24 | £19,750 |
| Garfield Western | £10,000 |
| Wolfson Foundation | £10,000 |
| National Churches Trust | £5,000 |
| Friends of Kent Churches | £10,000 |
| Benefact Trust | £2,500 |
| PCC General Funds (loan) | £5,000 |
| PCC Building Fund | £5,000 |
| Pledged by the Friends of All Saints | £40,000 |
| Total | £107,250 |
GREAT NEWS:
Thanks to the generosity of the village community and a number of grant giving bodies, together with a lot of money from the Friends of All Saints, we now have raised most of the funds required to complete the restoration work.
The PCC has been reassured that the work can go ahead as a contingency fund had been calculated into the amount estimated for the work and also that the Friends would cover further costs. On those terms the PCC agreed for the work to start as soon as possible in order for it to be completed this summer (text adapted).
As there is an outstanding 10% still to be raised, our fund-raising efforts continue as we still need several thousand pounds, but we do hope to see the scaffolding going up in a few weeks’ time.
The work will restore the timbers of the turret roof and its small spire and weathervane, the decaying stonework of the turret including the broken door lintel which holds up the spire, and the tower roof itself. Although the work is critical to the safety of the turret of this grade 1 listed building, we receive no support from the wider church organisation.
If you can, please help us to save this 12th century iconic building-
- Card donations via www.parishgiving.org.uk, enter ‘Staplehurst All Saints’, as the parish name and select the one-off gift option. All money received though this will go to the tower turret fund.
- Cash or cheques to ‘All Saints Staplehurst PCC’, in an envelope marked ‘Turret’, placed in the wall safe in the church porch or in the plate during services.
- Mobile Phone Text Pay – send, ‘Tower X’ to 70490 (replace X with the number of pounds that you would like to donate, from 1 to 20).
- Not all phone contracts support text pay.
- Check with contract holder before sending money.
Many thanks for your continuing support
Tony Henley, Buildings and Grounds, All Saints Staplehurst
Restoration of the turret on top of the tower.
Our Problem: The stonework of the turret.
The turret with its short spire replaced the earlier large spire which was blown down in 1673. It comprises a stone-built, hexagonal structure in the southeast corner of the tower and covers the top of the spiral staircase. It provides access to the lead-covered wooden roof to allow flags to be flown and the star to be erected at Christmas. The Turret, with its wooden shingle-covered spire and surrounding lead guttering, stops water running done the tower steps. Immediately below the Tower roof is the bell chamber with its rare set of ten bells.
Download the Tower Turret Appeal Leaflet