Above: after lunch a drive to the north east of the county. One of the churches I called at was this Grade 1 example, remote from the village. Externally Perpendicular, but internally much older.
Above: inside it was a shell (I repeat, this is a Grade 1 listed building). All the glass had been smashed in all the windows. The doors were all off, and the building is open to the elements.
Above: scorch marks from fires can be seen on the medieval south arcade.
Above: medieval carving of a monk at prayer - just lying on the floor for anyone to take. This is in a Grade 1 listed building. Someone should be shot for what has happened here.
Above: Ian Jack in yesterday's Guardian drew attention to the risk parish churches are facing. The government should give a yearly grant to the Church of England to cover the cost of maintenance of all medieval buildings. It would be a fraction of the billions being wasted on the Olympic Games.
Above: there is some help from various bodies, but the strategy of "find alternative uses" is flawed - once the buildings have been turned into shops, or tennis courts, or community centres they are just as ruined as the burned-out smashed-up examples. The sensible answer is for the Church of England to increase its membership. It can't be all that hard to get a hundred or so regular communicants attending each church each week. It's only twenty or so families. And now everyone has a car even the most remote church becomes accessible. Unfortunately you can't talk to incumbants about marketing communications - they just don't think it is relevant to them.
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