A grade II listed church has received almost £90,000 from the National Lottery in aid of urgent repairs and to create an interactive tour guide.
Newton Flotman PCC has received £87,600 from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) to repair the church roof, tower and drainage system, install wifi and train local volunteers to research and produce films about the church's heritage to create an interactive tour and to develop a village history archive.
Work has started on the repairs to the church and although delayed by the Beast from the East it is expected be completed by late spring with further works on the tower scheduled in the summer.
The church has recently restored Kemp windows and a monument dedicated to Thomas Blundeville, a 16th century writer and mathematician credited with writing the first printed book on horses in England.
Following a successful Village History Day held at the church in 2017, a monthly group called Newton Flotman and Saxlingham Thorpe Heritage Group (NFaST) was set up.
At the history day parish registers and school logs could be viewed as well as old village photos and a special exhibition on Thomas Blundeville.
The NFaST group is organising the heritage project and has recruited volunteers to train to research and produce interactive resources.
They hope this will lead to other village heritage interpretation projects including the development of a website.
The group recently held an event at the village centre where people brought photographs and mementoes and contributed to the village memory maps.
Progress of the church heritage project will be revealed at this year's Village History Day along with displays of the memories of the Flood of 1968 in the church this autumn.
The PCC expressed their thanks to National Lottery players and their relief that the vital repairs were able to go ahead.
They said they are encouraged by the local enthusiasm that the heritage project is getting to celebrate and highlight the church's heritage to a wider number of people.
Training for the filming for the church heritage project is on Saturday, June 2. Anyone wishing to get involved should contact Kirsten Remer at k.remer@tiscali.co.uk
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