Funding boost to enhance public access to the City of London’s churches

The City of London’s churches have been granted funding so that their buildings can be opened more often and improved public access can be developed for them.

The Square Mile Churches Project has received a £240,000 grant from the National Heritage Lottery Fund, which will be used to audit the churches, improve volunteer training, and examine how to improve their access to local and wider communities.

Largely commissioned after the Great Fire of London in 1666 and designed by Sir Christopher Wren, the 38 churches are of international significance and bear comparison with UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

Now, thanks to the generous support of the Heritage Fund the Square Mile Churches Project can further develop its work to secure their future via a number of initiatives, chiefly by assessing and understanding their conservation and community needs, as well as identifying their potential for future opportunities. Part of the funding will be used to recognise the 38 churches’ historical importance, before planning how each one can enjoy an energy efficient and sustainable future.

The aim is to encourage churches to adapt these spaces to meet current and future needs, without compromising their heritage or core function as places of worship.

In addition, the ‘Mapping Energy Project’ (MEP) – which has also attracted funding from the Royal Academy of Engineering – will look at how heat can be shared and sourced amongst districts. Involving 10 schools from the surrounding area, the MEP aims to give 6th form students and early-career engineers an opportunity to discover sources of heat from below ground – such as the London Underground – and consider how they could be used to provide the energy needed to heat or indeed cool churches throughout the year.

A 3D map of their findings will go on display in June 2025 at St Andrew Holborn to physically demonstrate how structures above ground and those below relate to each other.