A church which has stood for over 800 years is set to close for good after a “long and upsetting saga”.
The Parochial Church Council (PCC) estimated restoration of the Church of St Martin in Yapham, East Yorkshire, would cost more than £500,000.
Historic England, a non-departmental public body which preserves historical buildings, listed the church in 2024.
At the time the organisation said it needed repairs to its roof, drainage systems, and windows.
David Millican, lay chair of the PCC at Yapham, said: “It will be the end of a very long and upsetting saga when we eventually shut the fence.
“After many physical and civil engineering checks, we’ve discovered there is so much wrong with it, it would cost over half a million to rebuild it.”
The PCC had already spent about £17,000 just to determine how the church could be fixed, but discovered it would be “well beyond” the budget to raise money to repair it.
Mr Millican added that the church was originally built on clay and began to “slough away” in one corner of the building in 2023.
The Church of St Martin in Yapham has stood for over 800 years
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WIKIMEDIA/DAVID ROGERS
A stained glass window also had to be removed from the church in 2023.
It remains undecided if the church will be demolished, but the doors had already been locked and the formal closure process is underway.
The church’s graveyard remains open and people with family at rest there can still be buried.
The saga comes despite Labour’s recent U-turn on granting funds to churches, chapels, and cathedrals.
An engraved keystone in the church, which is set to close its doors for good
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WIKIMEDIA/DAVID ROGERS
In January 2025, the Government cut funding for its Listed Places of Worship Grant scheme, which supported repairs to churches, chapels, and cathedrals, from £42million to £23million.
A year later however, Labour scrapped the scheme and replaced it with a new fund called the Places of Worship Renewal Fund.
This new fund was an increase in investment, up to £92million.
Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy said the funding was a sign Labour was “rebuilding” Britain.
Of the funding, she said: “It will unlock opportunities for millions of people who have been shut out for far too long. That is the Britain we are rebuilding.”
The Grade II-listed building, originally dedicated to St Nicholas, was partially rebuilt between 1777 and 1779 and later restored in 1904.
A spokesman for Historic England said: “We are sorry to hear the PCC haven’t been able to raise the funds needed to carry out the programme of works to repair the church and the closure puts the site at further risk.
“Sadly, many well-loved rural churches like St Martin’s remain vulnerable due to the challenges of on-going repairs and maintenance as well as long-term structural issues.”
