The essential building work required to repair Shobdon Church is ongoing and photographs of the work so far can be found below. The page will be regularly updated with details of the progress made.

Repairs Feburary 2012:

Repairs August 2011:

Repairs July 2011:

Repairs June 2011:

Repairs May 2011:

Over ten years ago, the church's Parochial Church Council (PCC) embarked on what was expected to be a relatively straightforward repair project and with successful fund raising, it looked financially possible.

Then the trouble began. It was far from straightforward and as different bits of the upper parts of the building were uncovered, not only was the task considerably more complex, it was also vastly more costly. Eventually, in 2003 and even after considerably enhanced funding from English Heritage (EH), it was reluctantly decided that further work would have to wait and that temporary coverings would protect the building for several more years.

Knowing that there would be a lot more to do in order to put the building into good condition for the foreseeable future, the PCC and the newly-formed Shobdon Church Preservation Trust (SCPT), embarked on a comprehensive fundraising programme during which three unsuccessful applications were made to EH for further repair grants. It was only when the temporary roof coverings began to fail and water started coming through the church's iconic and precious plasterwork that EH agreed to some very limited exploratory investigation into the likely problem areas. That was when the rather unusual construction of the building presented real challenges. In the case of most church buildings, "what you see is what you get". Not so in Shobdon's case. Most of the structural timber is buried behind the plasterwork and often within the stonework. Because of the importance of the plasterwork, any removal needed in order to find out what was going on behind, had to be done with the greatest care and in conjunction with non-invasive penetrative scanning carried out by Robert Demaus of Leominster-based Demaus Building Diagnostics.

Most of the investigatory work continued from 2006 to 2009 and was largely funded by the SCPT. With each more searching probe came the realisation that repairing this building was going to be enormously complex and expensive... with VAT, over £1 million! Not the sort of money that can be raised at whist drives and concerts!

Luckily, because Shobdon's Rococo Gothic design is generally recognised as being of unique national importance, key charities and funding agencies have come to the rescue.

EH through the Repair Grants for Places of Worship Scheme, has provided this church with the largest grant to ANY church in England: £507,000

World Monuments Fund (WMF), provided fantastic publicity AND money. Every two years, the New York-based Head Office of WMF publishes a list of important sites WORLDWIDE, that are at serious risk and face an uncertain future. In 2010, Shobdon Church appeared on the "Watch List" - one of just 5 other British sites. Through an American charitable trust (the Paul Mellon Trust) WMF has been able to provide matched funding to the tune of £82,200. Not only that, it has also worked with the SCPT in applications to other sources of grant aid.

A much-valued and frequent source of building repair grants, the Garfield Weston Trust provided an amazingly generous grant of £50,000.

The Herefordshire Historic Churches Preservation Trust made an unprecedented "Corner Stone" grant of £25,000 and the National Churches Trust one of £10,000.

The repairs are going well, Capps and Capps, the main contractors have an excellent team of craftsmen on site. Nearly all the potential areas of surprises have been uncovered and the costs (both saved and increased) have been calculated by Quantity Surveyors, Firmingers of Worcester. Fred Gibson, a conservation architect with Worcester architects, Walker and Duckham, is in almost daily contact with the builders, deciding how best to cope with the building's unusual and sometime unexpected challenges.

The work should be completed by February 2012. Although the interior will look gorgeous, having had all its plasterwork re-painted, it is hoped that the furniture can then be re-painted also. Edward Bulmer has very kindly had a full paintwork analysis carried out by specialists and obtained an estimate for the labour costs involved in repainting all the woodwork. With a ring-fenced fund provided a few years ago by Col. Corbett specifically for re-decoration, it just remains for the PCC to obtain the necessary permissions to proceed with the work.

This truly is an amazing and iconic place, a jewel in the crown of Herefordshire's architectural heritage. Its repairs have been supported by a number of very substantial grants and the enthusiastic backing of a great many individuals who know and love the place. Two local people in particular: Simon Arbuthnott, the Chairman of the SCPT and James Hervey-Bathurst, the Chairman of WMF Britain.