THE wheels are motion for the restoration of St Michael and All Angels Church in Middlewich after it received a £234,000 grant to go towards work on the town’s landmark church. 

St Michael’s church told the Guardian last year that the historic building was in need of a huge structural revamp costing a total of £1m and now the first stage of the project, which will cost around £300,000, has just received a grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund to cover most of the sum. 

The church is hoping to receive another grant from the Listed Places of Worship grant scheme which would cover the VAT incurred from repairs and leave around £13,000 to be raised by members of the church. 

Michael Reed, who is leading the restoration project at the church, said: “The project has moved on quite a lot and we now have a five-stage project which will take between five and 10 years depending on how quickly we raise the money.

“The first stage is entirely structural. It’s to replace the north side of the roof, and work on the drainage system and work on the high level stones.

“We took the pinnacles down in 2012 and we will be putting two of them back up as part of this first stage which is nice because people see them and recognise them.

“We applied for a national lottery grant and we’ve been given £234,000. The maximum grant you can get is £250,000 so it’s one of the biggest grants you’re going to get. 

“Nobody will be seen doing anything for about a year yet because we have to raise the rest of the money but we have a fund raising group who will be working hard to find other grants and organise fundraising events.” 

The church was helped in getting the grant by the fact that Heritage England listed St Michael’s church on its ‘at risk’ register which is a list of heritage buildings they consider to need a lot of work doing on them. 

A spokesman for Historic England said: “The Grade II St Michael and All Angels Church was originally built around 1500 but was heavily restored by the Victorian architect Joseph Clarke in 1857-60. 

“The parish church for Middlewich, we’re really pleased it’s received this grant money to go towards important repairs.”