Council to consider meeting £50,000 shortfall in £1m project to restore historic Cromarty Church
Cromarty East building survived reformation, and fundraising for repairs is almost complete
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THE restoration of a historic Cromarty Church is likely to move a step closer when Highland Council considers whether to donate £50,000 to the £1million project later this week.
The Scottish Redundant Churches Trust (SRCT) is involved in a project to repair Cromarty East Church, which found fame on BBC One’s Restoration Village programme two years ago.
Highland Council agreed to act as a guarantor for SRCT for a loan of £250,000 from the Architectural Heritage Fund, in April 2007.
At that time, the council also told the trust that it would give consideration to a further grant of £50,000 through the council’s budgetary programme.
The category A-listed church is thought to originally date back to mediaeval times.
It is no longer in use as a church, and for decades the building has been deteriorating due to age, damp and poor maintenance.
The project won a £641,000 grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund just before Christmas, allowing the appointment of specialist contractors.
Other funders are Historic Scotland (£340,000), Scottish Architectural Heritage Trust (£8,000), Cromarty Trust (£1,500), fundraising (£6,331), and in-kind contributions (£7,000). Project costs for the year before the application were £9,273.
The total project will cost £1,063,181 but there is a shortfall of £50,000 which the trust has asked the council to consider meeting.
In March the SRCT applied to the council for listed building consent to repair the dilapidated East Church.
It is understood that the architects behind the proposals have told the Friends of Cromarty East Church that restoration work is likely to take four years.
The building is one of the few Roman Catholic chur- ches to survive the Reformation.
Parts date back to the 16th century, but it may have older origins.
East Church made it to the finals of Restoration Village, hosted by Griff Rhys Jones, in 2006, but it missed out on the top prize.
The council will consider the matter at a full meeting in Inverness on Thursday, although the grant aid is recommended for approval.
