Church crisis averted

A 15,000 gift by the Friends of St Peter's has helped re-roof the choir vestry in the 1,200 year-old parish church.

The Friends' timely generosity has meant that an immediate problem has been solved. Leaking rainwater had been damaging the choir's sheet music.

But the gift has wiped out all but 5,000 of the friends' funds. A succession of expensive repairs - including complete electrical re-wiring - has also almost cleaned out the church's own fabric fund.

Now peeling plaster in the tower is giving rise to concern.

Over the next few years this and other essential repairs are expected to cost more than 100,000. Such costs will, inevitably, be ongoing for St Peter's is by far the town's oldest and most historic building. Its origins date back to AD772 when King Offa of Mercia granted land for the building of a church to establish "God's kingdom by the sea."

That is why the friends were established. But the sheer scale of the task confronting both parish and friends means that ways must now be sought to widen the search for funds and to make the town - and its visitors - aware that a key part of the community's heritage as risk.

In a think-tank session, friends members Hazel Mitten, Alan Storkey, Brian Hord, Geoff Brooks and treasurer John Bullen have mapped out ideas which will now be explored by the group.

They have already been heartened by the generosity of Bexhill Old Time Music Hall Society which is donating the proceeds of a special pre-opening night performance of next month's show.

The production, in St Peter's Community Centre, will commemorate the 60th anniversary of D-Day. The group plans to turn the centre's entrance foyer into an evocation of an air-raid shelter for the occasion.,

BOTMS' gesture is just the kind of response the group is hoping to encourage in the town.

Parishoners at St Peter's are already digging deeply into their pockets to help the building. Since their formation, the friends have additionally raised 20,000. But much of this was life membership - giving which by its very nature is a one-off.

The next 20,000 will be harder to find.

That is why the group is now working on ways of opening up St Peter's as a building to those who are not church-goers.

They are keen to ensure that the ancient structure takes its place in the public consciousness as a key part - indeed the core and foundation - of town history.

Like most churches, St Peter's has to maintain security though volunteer "churchwatchers" ensure it is open for part of the day. But the building's historic heritage has been part-hidden from the wider public for a generation and its key role in Bexhill's history sidelined.

One of the ideas now being pursued is the establishment of a rota of guides so that regular guided tours can be offered to residents and visitors. A Saxon stone believed to be the lid of a child's coffin and traces of Norman carving in the stonework of the church's ancient arches are among points of interest.

The tours may well conclude with the offer of cream tea or similar refreshment in the community centre. Overseas student groups and other tourist organisations may be invited to enjoy these tours.

The friends are scouring websites for details of trust funds, particularly historic building trusts. They are exploring ways of involving the business community in sponsorship and - with an eye on the longer-term - of encouraging well-wishers to remember the building and its future when making their wills.

Like other historic churches, St Peter's must find its own salvation. John Bullen says: "I have a feeling that if it were a castle public funds would have been made available."

Brian Hord says: "It is easily the most historic building we have in Bexhill. in combination with Old Town, it is the jewel in our crown."