St Sampson's Church Appeal
About the Appeal
St Sampson's is the Church of England parish church of the town of Cricklade, Wiltshire, England.
The Appeal aims to refurbish the church building to ensure that it can remain at the heart of the Cricklade Community. We aim to create a flexible, warm, well-lit and welcoming community space, which everyone can enjoy and use for worship, church and community groups, activities, events and concerts. We also want to protect and enhance the historical features and beauty of our church for future generations.
Vision & design concepts for the refurbishment
Below is the revised sketch plan (March 2024) by ELM Architects. It meets the needs identified in our church and community consultation and takes into account feedback from statutory bodies like the Diocese, Church Buildings Council and English Heritage.
“Very impressive. A great use of space. It will make it very user friendly.”
Blackwells Funeral Directors
“Fantastic to see the use of space and sensible areas for smaller events, plus new meeting places. Much easier to heat!”
​"Enabling the church to be more accessible and flexible will be amazing, hopefully leading to a more stable financial viability and continued good use to ensure its future.”
Projected costs
£25,700
Funded
Feasibility & design concepts
Vision and initial concepts with architect, advice on aspects of the plans (e.g. fire regs, heating services etc).
£63,000
Funds needed: £10,000
Development of detailed plans
Architectural, heating and electrics detailed plans and archaeologist report. Enables us to apply for a faculty from the Diocese so we have permission.
Funds needed:
c. £1.75m
Refurbishment work takes place
Phased approach to fundraising and completing the improvements. The first priority is fixing roofs and installing three phase electric and then improving the heating.
Once the whole project is complete, the building will be available for bookings for groups, events, exhibitions and concerts as well as weddings and baptisms and income earned will help with the future upkeep of the church.
St Sampson's Church is a large aisled church with a central tower. The present building dates from the late 12th century, but has fragments of Anglo-Saxon work. The church is a Grade I listed building.