Long Street Methodist Church receives a grant from the government’s culture recovery fund

Long Street Methodist Church, Middleton

The Edgar Wood-designed Long Street Methodist Church in Middleton has received a financial boost to help fund repairs from the government’s Culture Recovery Fund.

The church, part of the Edgar Wood Rooms complex, has been awarded £15,000 for essential repair work on the feature chimney stack of the Arts and Crafts church. 

In 1901 the ‘Wesleyan Church and Schools, Middleton’ were completed. Now called Long Street Methodist Church and the Edgar Wood Rooms, they were designed by Middleton’s pioneering architect Edgar Wood who established the Northern Art Workers Guild with Walter Crane.

Born in Middleton in 1860, Wood became a revolutionary creative force who built a bridge between the great art movements of the Pre-Raphaelites and Modernism. He was a key figure in the Arts and Crafts movement, an architectural style which celebrated traditional forms of craftsmanship that people feared would be lost as a result of the industrial revolution.

The Long Street church’s design was highly influential in subsequent church design of the 20th century, leading the change from ornamented Gothic, usually in stone, to plain brick buildings lacking ornamentation or an historic style.

The building is owned by the Greater Manchester Building Preservation Trust (GMBPT) and supported by the Edgar Wood Society. The church leases the church section of the building from the trust and is therefore able to continue its mission in supporting the community.

Trustees of the church said: “We were delighted to receive this funding from the Culture Recovery Fund. It will make a significant difference to the work we need to carry out at Long Street Church so that the church can continue to play an important part in the life of our community.”

Grants of up to £25,000 are being allocated from the Culture Recovery Fund to cherished heritage sites, like Long Street Methodist Church, across the country to cover urgently needed maintenance and repairs.

This vital funding comes from a part of the Culture Recovery Fund called the Heritage Stimulus Fund and is administered on behalf of the government by Historic England.

As well as rescuing precious heritage buildings in need, the injection of cash will protect livelihoods for some of the most vulnerable heritage specialists and contractors working in the sector.

Duncan Wilson, Historic England Chief Executive said: “Historic places across the country are being supported by the Government’s grants awarded under the Culture Recovery Fund. This funding is a lifeline which is kick-starting essential repairs and maintenance at many of our most precious historic sites, so they can begin to recover from the damaging effects of Covid-19.

“It is also providing employment for skilled craft workers who help keep historic places alive and the wheels of the heritage sector turning. Our shared heritage is an anchor for us all in these challenging times and this funding will help to ensure it remains part of our collective future.”