St George's Woolwich to be Restored!

The Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) has awarded a confirmed grant* of just over £396,000 so that Grade II listed St George's Garrison Church in Woolwich can undergo much-needed conservation works, it was announced today. The money will see up to twenty students work alongside English Heritage appointed mural conservators under the Heritage of London Trust Operations (HOLT Op) scheme to preserve the remains of the Royal Garrison Church, currently on the English Heritage At Risk Register. The scheme, expected to take just over two years to complete, will also make the site fully accessible to the public for the first time.

Key to the conservation works will be a new tensile roof structure to be erected above the building to conserve its precious mosaic interior from the elements. Interpretation will also be created at the site for visitors, and a programme of associated educational activities and open days for the local community and school groups is to be developed.

St George's Garrison Church - built between 1863-67 to serve the Woolwich Garrison community - was designed in the Lombardi style of stock brick construction with red and blue vitrified detailing, and was decorated internally with mosaics, inlaid marble, and monuments to battles and servicemen fallen in armed conflict. It became the Royal Garrison Church in 1928 after a visit by King George V, however was reduced to a roofless shell after being hit by a V2 Flying bomb in 1944. Subsequently partly demolished to leave only the lower sections of the perimeter walls, the remains of the church now enclose a walled garden that has the feeling of a ‘secret' garden.

Today, the church remains consecrated and is used for open air services by Service personnel in the Royal Artillery Barracks, and significant decorative interior remains. Notably, this includes the Victoria Cross memorial with a mosaic depicting St George and the Dragon, flanked by marble tablets inscribed with the names of all deceased gunners who won the Victoria Cross from the Crimean War to mid World War II. Ownership, as part of this project, is due to be transferred from the Ministry of Defence to HOLT Op at the start of November.

Culture Minister Ed Vaizey, also a Trustee of the Heritage of London Trust expressed his support for the scheme: "For well over 60 years St. George's Chapel has stood a poignant and silent victim of World War II. I am delighted that Heritage of London Trust Operations has devised a scheme to conserve the magnificent mosaics and create a garden which can be used by the local community and the Friends of St. George's Woolwich. The HLF grant will ensure the success of the project, and the chapel will be ready in time for the Olympic Games. Congratulations!"

Wesley Kerr, Chairman of the Heritage Lottery Fund for London said (pictured above centre left with HOLT Chairman Ronnie Barden behind him at the press call on October 25th): "The magnificent  St George's  Garrison Church, with its richly evocative mosaics, has survived Second World Ward bombing and decades of exposure to the weather, but remains a poignant and fantastically inspiring space, which until now few have been able to visit . The Royal Artillery is inseparable from the history of Woolwich and now everybody will be able to visit this incredible space , imaginatively presented by HOLT . The Heritage Lottery Fund is delighted to support this great project in time for it to be part of London's historic  Olympic offer."

The story of St George's Garrison Church and its conservation journey has been told on BBC Inside Out London on 7^th November. Here is a link to episode clips

Chelsea Pensioners (pictured left) visited St George's Woolwich on November 17th 2011.

General Sir David Richards, Chief of the Defence Staff made a statement about this building:

"The fantastic work that Heritage of London are conducting to preserve and restore St George's Church at Woolwich is hugely important to the heritage of the Royal Regiment of Artillery. Amongst other things, St George's contains the Royal Artillery Victoria Cross Memorial, which defiantly withstood the bomb damage of July 1944 and reminds us of the courage and valour of those Gunners that have won the award. It has particular resonance in reminding us of today's serving Regiment who continue to display extraordinary bravery, sustained resilience and immense professionalism on operations. It is vitally important we do not forget; and the Trust's restoration will open this haunting treasure to the local community."

* Buy the St George's full colour photo book on BLURB!

* Article from the Greenwich Mercury (26/10/2011)

* Article from Greenwich Time (15/11/2011)