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15
Mar 2024
Fundraisers launch campaign to renovate Newby church
Fundraisers have launched a campaign to renovate an historic Victorian church on the Newby Hall estate between Ripon and Boroughbridge.
The church of Christ the Consoler is at the centre of a renovation project organised by the estate and local villagers. The ‘Friends of Christ the Consoler’ are on a mission to bring life to the church through events while at the same time raising funds to deliver renovation projects.
Priorities include reinstating the church’s boiler and heating system, which has not worked for 30 years. This will help preserve the church’s stained glass, some of which has deteriorated over the years due to humidity levels.
The church was built in the early 1870s with unpaid ransom money in memory of the son of Lady Mary Vyner of Newby Hall who was killed during his attempted rescue from kidnappers in Greece.
She commissioned British architect William Burges to design the church, now an example of Victorian gothic revival architecture. Craftsmen created a rich and colourful interior of fine marble, stained glass, gilded mosaics and exquisite carvings on the organ case.
Burges also designed St Mary’s Church at the nearby Studley Royal estate for Frederick’s sister and her husband, the Marquess and Marchioness of Ripon. Christ the Consoler was the parish church of Skelton cum Newby until 1991 and is now cared for by the Churches Conservation Trust.
The Friends of Christ the Consoler also want to restore the church’s grade one Thomas C Lewis organ. Lewis was one of the leading organ builders of the late 19th century, his works include the one at Ripon Cathedral.
The campaign group is made up of representatives from the Newby Hall estate and Skelton cum Newby Parish Council. The church’s single bell has already been restored and re-strung and now rings for the first time in over 20 years. The group now needs to raise more than £15,000 to reinstate the church’s heating system.
Parish Council chairman Guy Critchlow in the Church
Parish Council chairman Guy Critchlow said:
Stuart Gill, commercial director at Newby Hall, said:
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