Progress meeting date for the Heritage Llanarth community project
A PROGRESS meeting into the options to save St Teilo’s Church at Llanarth, near Raglan for use by the community will be held at Llanarth Village Hall on Wednesday, March 18th at 7pm, when suggested proposals will be unveiled.
The Village Alive Trust, local buildings preservation charity, has grant aid from The Architectural Heritage Fund (AHF) towards a study to find viable alternatives to save the Grade II* listed St Teilo’s which has been closed since 2013 following a survey which showed extensive repairs were needed.
The church was put up for sale in 2019 but the Church in Wales has allowed the Trust time to formulate a project to conserve the endangered landmark and bring it back into community use. Trust volunteers have been delivering questionnaires and publicity through newspaper articles, the website www.villagealivetrust.org.uk and Facebook has seen many responses.
Anyone who has family buried in the churchyard or who would like to receive a questionnaire is urged to contact the Trust on 01873 821418/821405 or by email:village.alive@btinternet.com
Invitations to the progress meeting on March 18th will be sent to anyone whose contact details have already been given to the Trust but everyone who is interested is urged to attend to learn about plans which have been investigated.
The feasibility study is being undertaken by Architect Stefan Horowskyj and Conservation Consultant Edward Holland supported by work on sustainable energy, local history, publicity and consultation by Trust members. The Village Alive Trust is matching the AHF grant through its own funds and thanks to donations collected by the family of the late Mr Don Exton, of Raglan.
Trust chairman, Pat Griffiths, who has family links with St Teilo’s, said: “We have been receiving some amazing responses to the appeal for people to give us their views, and support has come from as far away as Northern Ireland. This church is obviously considered a landmark in people’s lives, whether they have lived locally or have family buried there. Our proposals could see this church open again with a fresh, welcoming and inclusive community purpose.
“We really hope people will come along to the meeting with their ideas and support the project to save St Teilo’s “.
