Major repair work starts on Shap Church.

Worshippers at St. Michael’s Church, Shap are looking forward to banishing buckets from the church. For many years any rainfall has resulted in countless buckets being placed beneath leaks from the roof, and many gallons of water must have been collected in this way.

On 15 th July work finally began on essential repairs to the tower and south aisle at a cost of £154,000. The Heritage Lottery Fund administered by English Heritage for Places of Worship in England has met £129,000 of this; and further funding has come from the Aggregate Levy Sustainability Fund, the Historic Churches Preservation Trust, the Garfield Weston Foundation, and the Allchurches Foundation. There have also been a considerable number of local fundraising events.

The work is expected to take fifteen weeks, so it is hoped that the church will be watertight before winter sets in.

The main contractor for the work is Paul Richardson of Appleby, and the architect is Elaine Rigby also from Appleby.