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By The Cathedral of the Peak (St John the Baptist Church)
Help us replace the lighting and wiring in The Cathedral of the Peak to keep this resource available for the community of Tideswell for events such as craft markets, professional plays, and worship.
The lighting and wiring have reached the end of their lives. Lights and cables have failed and what is left is expensive to run and maintain. The church is a grade I listed building, dating from 1380, one of the most important 300 churches in the UK and is the most significant and largest building in the village of Tideswell. It provides a valuable resource not only for the village but also for the nation and its architectural heritage. The present electrical system detracts from rather than enhancing services and events. We have completed the rewiring of all the power sockets. We have plans and permissions in place to install a new energy efficient LED system and need to raise £23,929 to complete the first phase of the project. We have raised £92,332 but need your help to avoid the church being dark. As well as holding many different events the church attracts over 30,000 visitors each year from over the UK and abroad providing valuable income for local businesses in the community
What we'll deliver:
Why it's a great idea:
With an energy efficient dimmable LED lighting system visitors will find a welcoming environment rather than a dingy church. They will be able to see the wonderful architecture and carving without the need to have 20kW of light on all the time. Only the lights for specific areas will need to be on. We will be able to light the whole church for a large event but for a concert have the singers well lit but the audience more dimly lit. On those occasions where the whole church does need to be lit the power consumption will only be 4kW. It will be much easier to hire the church out and allow us to increase the number of events for the community. The new system will be easily integrated into lighting systems used by professional groups. Visitors will linger longer and be more likely to support the upkeep of the building. People will have a building and environment to enjoy whether it is a casual visitor, a regular attendee at a concert, a play, a normal service, a wedding or a funeral.
Steps to get it done:
To keep the church open during the work the project will be phased. This will avoid any cost over runs to be absorbed as each phase is completed so that at no point is installation left incomplete. The first phase of the lighting (the Nave) will include the purchase of all the lights and the control system. This will be followed by the the side Chapels and finally the Chancel high level lights. (The whole project will cost £161,362). The completion of this project will allow two more projects to move forward to support the wide range of events held in the church. The only accessible toilets are in adjacent buildings which involves a long sloping route for those who cannot manage steps. The only place to prepare refreshments for events, the church can seat 350 people, is a small sink and work top at the back of church. We have plans in place for disabled toilets in the church and a proper servery at the back. The rewiring will allow these to progress.
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Whoop, 40 people have pledged since fundraising began!
Whoop, 30 people have pledged since fundraising began!
How will the money be spent?Total £118,422
Costs Breakdown
This shows how money raised for the project will be spent. These costs have been confirmed by the project's Delivery Manager and verified.
Overfunding
This project is enabled for overfunding. If the project hits its funding goal before the end of the campaign period, any extra funds raised will be spent (in order of priority) on:
Total £118,422
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VolunteerSaint John the Baptist Church, a grade I listed building, dates from 1380 and is the most significant and largest building in the village of Tideswell. Otherwise known as The Cathedral of the Peak it attracts over 30,000 visitors each year (measured with people counters obtained with a grant from the All Churches Trust). Visitors come from all parts of the UK as well as from abroad and from the surrounding area. This large number of visitors provide valuable support for local businesses in this rural community.
The church provides a valuable space for the community and hosts a wide range of events to support it and help to keep it alive.
It hosts three regular services each week with different sizes of congregation as well as larger services for religious festivals. Services include ones for young families. The church provides an excellent venue for weddings (on average, 8 per year). There are on average 12 funerals per year. The church has an active bell ringing group which practices weekly and hosts approximately 12 visiting bands each year.
The Nave can seat 350 people if both side aisles are used and a specific space is set aside for those wishing to pray. The side chapel can seat about 15 people. While there are numerous interesting features to be observed in the church such as the elegant carving much is very difficult to see due to the poor lighting. Therefore only a small proportion of visitors linger and it is difficult for guides to engage them in conversation.
The church organises about 6 special events each year. These have included a community choir choral workshop and concert day, visits by local schools, a professional theatre group’s performance of The God Particle, special exhibitions, a Tideswell Male Voice choir concert, a major exhibition of community interests, plays by the Tideswell Community Players, a Tideswell Community Association Last Night of the Proms Concert, Kinder Children’s Choirs Concert, BBC Songs of Praise recording, a Maasai Warrior dancers concert and a Makers Market for local people selling hand made craft ranging from fabric goods, pottery and jewellery.
The church also provides space for Tideswell Community Kitchen Garden cared for by local volunteers. It offers a natural open space next to the church building for visitors, including children, to enjoy growing plants and produce. There is a supportive and social weekly gardening session and other volunteers join in at times that suit them.
Project Owner: Cathedral in the Peak The Project Owner takes legal responsibility for receiving and spending the funds raised and ensuring the project is delivered.
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