Home of Shakespeare's grave in Stratford may have to close

Jan 5 2009 by Emma Rowley, Birmingham Post

 a good poke around with the architect and I can confirm the work on the windows does need doing.”

The church raises some money from visitors’ donations but pays for the bulk of the restoration work by fundraising.

It receives no Government funding, a situation which Mr Gorick said points to the wider issue of a “looming heritage crisis” over the state of our churches.

“From our congregations we raise the costs of ministry – the costs of the living church,” he said.

“We raised £120,000 last year for that, but that £120,000 is before we’ve done any restoration of the church.”

If the money to maintain the church could not be found, he said: “What would happen?

“Would they just let it fall down?”

Few parish churches enjoy such a high profile as Holy Trinity, but there are 14,500 places of worship in England listed for their special architectural or historic interest.

The Church of England owns and maintains most of these, each year spending £110 million on repairs, with 70 per cent of the money raised by congregations and communities.