The Reawakening of St Mary Magdalene
The Reawakening of St Mary Magdalene
Supporting Newark’s Communities
St Mary Magdalene is a Grade One listed church dating back to the 12th century. It is a nationally significant building which is currently on Historic England’s Heritage at Risk Register. Grants of £3,064,126 from National Lottery players through The National Lottery Heritage Fund, support from Historic England, the Church of England, and the UK Shared Prosperity Fund will enable vital repairs to be made to the Church, removing it from the Heritage at Risk Register, breathing new life into the visitor experience, and saving the building for future generations.
The work will be led by Thomas Ford & Partners Architects and experienced contractors, ASBC (Alan Staley Building Contractors). The building work will include the repair of centuries worth of weather damage to the church; replacing the lead roof with a hard-wearing modern metal alternative, and installing 40 solar panels on the church’s southern roof, which will be hidden from street level and will help secure an eco-friendly future for St Mary’s.
Inside, an acoustically separate room will be built in the north western corner of the church which will be used for community activities, workshops and exhibitions. The room will be named after a 16th century diplomat and benefactor to the church and town, Thomas Magnus. The south western corner will be transformed into a café space, with seating and new, accessible toilets. Funding from the Church of England will provide for an extension to the existing platform in the centre of the church, providing an improved space for worship and performances.
The building works will also incorporate new information panels, highlighting the history and architecture of this landmark building, and opening up the church to thousands of new visitors. A range of engagement activities including hard hat tours, and talks from experts and professionals will be open to the public, keeping people up to date and informed about how the works are progressing and what hidden history has been uncovered.
‘The Reawakening of St Mary Magdalene’ project will work with educational institutions from across Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire to support work experience, apprenticeships, and encourage young people to be part of this exciting project. Ark Stained Glass and ICON (The Institute of Conservation) will support a 6 month long stained glass internship, while students from local educational institutions will have the opportunity to meet the professional team, visit the building site, and leave their mark on St Mary’s.
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Speaker 1: Hello, I’m Andrew Fearn. I'm here today to tell you about Saint Mary Magdalene Parish Church, right behind me. We have a project called ‘The Reawakening St. Mary Magdalene: Supporting Newark's Communities’. It's the back bit that I want to concentrate on, “supporting Newark's communities”. And today I have with me Nikki Rafferty, our storyteller, who has spent the last year doing pilot studies in and around Newark with hard to reach parts of the community.
Speaker 2: My name is Nikki Rafferty, and I'm the storyteller with ‘The Reawakening St Mary Magdalene’ project, and it's been a wonderful opportunity to go out into the community and work with care providers, educators, the voluntary sector, and look at how using stories inspired by the church, I can help them to serve the community that they're working with, and going forward, there will be the funding to train those people, to train those, care providers, those teachers, those voluntary workers, so that they can become storytellers too. And that's a part of the project that I am really excited about. So to be very specific, I've worked with REACH and they support adults with learning difficulties. I work with the Canal and River Trust, and we devised heritage story walks from the church to the Canal and River. I worked with a couple of local schools, the local college, and a young LGBTQ group. The Lions of Southwell have a little pot of money, and so we joined forces to put on some Ukrainian families story clubs. Every Saturday, Ukrainian families would get together and we would cook together, do arts and crafts, and I would tell stories, and it was a great opportunity to socialise, to make connections, to support each other, but also to extend their English language. Because it was a pilot, it was just an opportunity to wet everybody's appetite and for the last few weeks I've had a lot of phone calls from people trying to find out, if we've been successful in getting more money and they're all keen to get going. I’ve had care homes and the local Hospice and the local scouting groups, all anxious to find out, when are we going to get going again? And I'm really pleased to say soon! If you want to know more about this project, you can go onto the church website, you can subscribe to the Bitesize newsletter and keep tabs on us and let us know if we can work with you, if there's some way that we can support you too.
FAQs
Will the Church close down for the repair works?
St Mary’s will close in November 2024, and will be closed for approximately 14 months to allow all necessary repair works to be completed safely. We will post updates on our website, on social media, and in the weekly Bitesize news, which you can sign up for here.
Can I get involved in the project?
Yes! We are always looking for volunteers to help us out, and there are lots of ways you can be involved. We have a number of different volunteer opportunities, which can be found here. Alternatively, if you want to speak to someone, then please e-mail our team at volunteering@stmnewark.org for more information.
How do I find out more information about the activities you are running?
You can sign up for Bitesize News, follow us on Facebook or Instagram, or e-mail heritage@stmnewark.org for more information.
Do you offer work experience opportunities?
Yes! We do offer short-term unpaid work experience for over-16s. For more information e-mail volunteering@stmnewark.org.
The National Lottery Heritage Fund
Using money raised by National Lottery players, The National Lottery Heritage Fund supports projects that connect people and communities with the UK’s heritage. The Reawakening of St Mary Magdalene is made possible with The National Lottery Heritage Fund. Thanks to National Lottery players, we have been able to begin essential repair work to remove our building from Historic England’s Heritage at Risk Register. Internal improvements, including a new acoustically separate room and a new cafe space will ensure a brighter future for St Mary Magdalene Parish Church.
