Church Heritage & Conservation Resources
Welcome to the Church Heritage & Conservation Resources website where you can find the materials used or referenced in the current programme of training events. Each resource is listed under the course heading below. In addition, there is an A to Z list on the left hand side of the page where each resource can be located by clicking on it.
Church Care & Maintenance
Church Maintenance DVD
The Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings (SPAB) have produced a DVD that explores some of the problems you may find in and around your place of worship. It teaches you how to keep the building fabric in good condition by showing you what to look out for and giving you practical tips on carrying out everyday maintenance tasks.
Click here to view the online DVD
Electrical Installation Testing
Every electrical installation (wiring, sockets, light switches, etc), whether in a church, hall or domestic dwelling, deteriorates with use and over time. It is therefore important to get it inspected on a regular basis to ensure that users are not put at risk. This should be done every 5 years in a place of worship and be carried out by a suitably qualified person.
Click here to download a Best Practice Guide
Portable Electrical Appliance Testing
It is important to ensure that all portable electrical appliances in your place of worship are in good condition to protect the people who use it. It is therefore recommended that these items (eg. fan heaters, kettles, etc) are tested on a regular basis.
Click here for further information from the HSE website
Health and Safety
The Health & Safety Executive (HSE) produce a wide variety of guides including managing asbestos, the safe use of ladders and how to conduct a risk assessment. Click on the link below to go to the main website or see the individual links for other HSE guides referred to in the training session.
HSE Home Page
Asbestos
This short guide from the HSE outlines how to deal with asbestos for anyone owning or managing a non-domestic building.
Click here to download
Ladders and Stepladders
This HSE guide discusses the safe use of ladders & stepladders and how to go about selecting the right type of ladder for the job.
Click here to download
Risk Assessments
It is a good idea do a risk assessment of your place of worship to control the risks to people who use it and who are involved in its maintenance and upkeep. The HSE guide below is a simple five step process. Further guides (including example risk assessments of different types of premises) are available from the main HSE website.
Click here to download
Working at Height
If you don't work at height very often or are unsure about which type of access equipment to use, it is important that you assess the risks and select the right equipment for the job. HSE's WAIT (Work at height Access equipment Information Toolkit) shows you some possible solutions.
Click here to go to the HSE WAIT Toolkit webpage
Fire Safety
Places of worship need to comply with the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005. This short guide gives simple and practical advice about making your premises safe from fire.
Click here to download
Insurance
All Church in Wales churches are covered by Ecclesiastical Insurance's Parishguard policy. In order to encourage PCCs to look after their places of worship and thus minimise insurance claims and keep premiums as low as possible, Ecclesiastical have a comprehensive range of information available on their Church Matters website. In addittion, they have a particularly useful guidance note that covers fire safety, electrical wiring, heating, repairs & restoration and lightning protection for churches.
Click here to download the guidance booklet
Click here to go to the Church Matters website
Useful Websites
This document lists websites that deal with the conservation and maintenance of historic churches and buildings.
Click to download
Church Care and Maintenance Presentation Slides
If you would like a copy of the presentation slides used in the training session, please click on the links below to download them in PDF format. Note! There is a slight regional variation between the dioceses in the Introduction presentation.These files are also quite large (5MB to 7MB) so may take a short time to download.
Introduction St Asaph
Introduction Bangor
Introduction St Davids
Introduction Monmouth
Why Buildings Decay
The Importance of Regular Maintenance
Grants & Funding
RB Documents
The following documents from the Representative Body of the Church in Wales contain information relating to managing church building projects. Click on the document name to download it.
Managing Church Building Projects
Managing Smaller Church Building Projects
Appraising Future Church Building Needs
Wider Community Use of Churches & Church Halls
Grant Funding for Community Projects in Church Buildings
GRANTfinder & GRANTnet Databases
Each Diocese subscribes to a powerful grants & funding database called GRANTfinder. Please contact your Diocesan Funding Officer or Diocesan Office for more information on how to access the database. The smaller version, GRANTnet, is freely available to all. Click on the link below to go to the website.
Click to access GRANTnet
GRANTfinder Documents
The following documents from GRANTfinder contain useful information to help you when apply for a grant. Click on the document name to download it.
Successfully Securing Grant Funding: A Beginner’s Guide
A Guide to Writing a Fundraising Strategy
Preparing Your Business Plan: a “How to” Guide
How to Write a Winning Financial Plan
An Introduction to Better Writing
Grants and Funding Presentation Slides
If you would like a copy of the presentation slides used in the training session, please click on the links below to download them in PDF format.
G&F Presentation Part 1- Pre-Application Advice
G&F Presentation Part 2 - Grant Awarding Bodies
GRANTfinder Training Slides
The presentation slides are a useful guide for anyone wanting to know how to search the GRANTfinder database. If you would like a copy of the slides, please click on the link below to download them in PDF format.
An Introduction to GRANTfinder
Quinquennial Inspections & Reports
Quinquennial Inspectors Brief
The Constitution of the Church in Wales requires that the Diocesan Board of Finance, through its Churches and Pastoral Committee, appoints an architect or building surveyor to inspect every church in the Diocese at least once every five years. Click on the link below to download a copy of the RB Brief to Quinquennial Inspectors.
Click to download RB brief
Parochial Administration Handbook
Chapter 2 of the Parochial Administration Handbook deals with the management of property. This chapter includes a section on churches which discusses (amongst other things) quinquennial inspections and faculties. If you would like to go to this section of the Handbook, please click on the link below. Alternately, a second link is available for the whole of the Handbook.
Go to Chapter 2 - Churches
Go to the Parochial Administration Handbook
Quinquennial Inspections and Reports Presentation Slides
If you would like a copy of the presentation slides used in the training session, please click on the link below to download them in PDF format. The file is quite large (6MB) so may take a short time to download.
Click to download slides