£20,000 funding for vital repairs to historic Fife church

Fife Council has approved a £20,000 Common Good funding application to help repair and restore Crail Parish Church.

The historic A-listed building was founded in the latter half of the 12th century.

The church tower,  built in the early 13th century,  is now in need of urgent repairs.

The north east area committee funding will help with the work as welll as the church roof and gables which are also deteriorating.

The news comes just as Crail Parish Church is set to open its doors this Sunday to members of the public.

The first lockdown service will be at 9.45am and those wishing to attend future services should phone the church in advance to be added to their waiting list. It is currently allowed to take in a maximum of 50 people.

A report  to the area committee said that the repairs will “ensure the future integrity of the structure and prevent water ingress to the main church building.”

The Kirk Session commissioned a survey report in September 2018 which identified essential repairs to the value of £459,117 with a recommendation that work was undertaken within three years.

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The £20,000 Common Good application approved by Fife Council represents just four per cent ofthe total  costs.

The church has an investment fund of £96,500 for property restoration and repair, and has secured £250,000 from the Church of Scotland.

It has also applied for funding from Historic Environment Scotland and the Heritage Lottery Fund.

The Royal Burgh of Crail Community Council and local members  were consulted before the meeting, and all were in favour of the application.

Yesterday’s meeting also saw the approval of Crail Common Good Funds with £2,400 towards the refurbishment of the town’s multi-use games area,  and £2,700 for the painting of  Crail Museum and Heritage Centre.

A further £8,573  was contributed towards improvement works for the public realm and £20,000 for the restoration of the Harbour Master’s Office.

Cllr Bill Porteous said: “This shows the excellent and very vigorous community that works in Crail.

“This is volunteers doing a whole lot of work in the community and I recommend that to all the communties in Fife get stuck in.”

> Hannah Brown is the Local Democracy Reporter for Fife & Angus