St Mary’s Cathedral and St Margaret’s Chapel, Edinburgh receive urgent repair grants

St Mary’s Cathedral and St Margaret’s Chapel in Edinburgh have received a share of a £584,081 “urgent payout” grant from the National Churches Trust designed to save important heritage and keep churches and chapels in use. 

The external stone walls of “Category A Listed” St Margaret’s Chapel have been cracking and the roof needs urgent repairs, with buckets being used to collect rainwater around the building. The chapel will receive a £10,000 “Wolfson Fabric Repair Grant” from the Wolfson Foundation to repair the roof and masonry to prevent further water damage.

The chapel – opened in 1825 – was designed by James Gillespie Graham, one the leading architects of the mid-19^th century. It contains stained glass windows by AWN Pugin in vivid colours and a beautiful high altar. 

“Category B Listed” St Mary’s Cathedral, which has one of the largest pipe organs in the UK and is home to the national shrine of St Andrew, which attracts thousands of tourists a year, also has significant water damage and has received a £10,000 grant from the National Churches Trust to make the church watertight again. 

“The National Churches Trust is delighted to be able to support St Margaret’s Chapel to enable them to carry out urgent repairs to their beautiful building,” said Claire Walker, Chief Executive of the National Churches Trust.

“Not only will this protect this important heritage, but it will help to keep the building open and help bring St Margaret’s Chapel closer in their vision to attract more visitors.” 

“The ongoing water damage, particularly to the ceiling of the Sacristy, has been a major concern here at the Cathedral. Without urgent repairs, the safety of the building and its visitors would be at risk, so the generous £10,000 grant from the National Churches Trust is most welcome,” explained Monsignor Jeremy Milne of St Mary’s Cathedral.

“The Cathedral is home to the National Shrine of St Andrew and is a big draw for domestic and international tourists. So, we are delighted that this grant will help ensure we remain open.

“We are a busy city centre church community and it’s important to us to have our doors open 365 days a year to offer a quiet space for reflection, prayer and daily Mass. We also want to maintain a safe, attractive and welcoming environment to the thousands of visitors we welcome each year, and this grant will help us do that.” 

Church repairs now up to 20 per cent more expensive 

Changes introduced this year by the Labour government have made repairs to listed places of worship up to 20 per cent more expensive. 

The Listed Places of Worship Grants Scheme allows listed churches, chapels, meeting houses and cathedrals to reclaim VAT on urgent repair projects. 

It has helped 13,000 places of worship since it was introduced in 2001, the vast majority of them churches. But the government has only decided to renew the scheme until March 2026 and has introduced a cap, meaning churches can only claim up to £25,000 back on their repair bill – even if the VAT bill is higher. 

“Changes by the Government to the Listed Places of Worship Grants Scheme have effectively imposed VAT on listed churches that need any major repairs. This will be unaffordable to many of them as the burden of caring for these buildings already falls onto local people and could lead to even more churches falling into disrepair or closing completely,” says Claire Walker.

“This is about more than just heritage – churches host and run support for local people; mental health groups, food banks, warm spaces and parent and toddler groups, which would be impossible for local authorities to fund and run if the church was forced to close. We should be making it easier for churches to help local people – not cut off vital funding that keeps these important buildings open.” 

“The VAT scheme must be made permanent and its cap removed in the upcoming spending review to protect our church heritage and to see these buildings kept open and serving local people.” 

(The interior of St Mary’s Cathedral, Edinburgh – Diocese of St Andrews, Edinburgh)

The post St Mary’s Cathedral and St Margaret’s Chapel, Edinburgh receive urgent repair grants first appeared on Catholic Herald.

The post St Mary’s Cathedral and St Margaret’s Chapel, Edinburgh receive urgent repair grants appeared first on Catholic Herald.