The historian and broadcaster Alice Loxton called for an \u201curgent, national, seismic response\u201d to the \u201ccultural vandalism\u201d of the \u201cquiet decay of the parish church\u201d. Stephen Cottrell, the Anglican Archbishop of York, said, \u201cTo lose them, to hamper our ability to renew and restore them, to diminish them, will cause irreparable damage not just to brick and stone, but to hearts and minds.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The conference launched the results of the National Churches Survey, which found that 38 per cent of church roofs are in urgent need of repair, 22 per cent of parishes believe that their building has deteriorated in the last five years, and 27 per cent are not certain that their church will remain open as places of worship by 2030.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
One in 20 churches said they will definitely or probably not be used as a place of worship in five years\u2019 time, which amounts to around 2000 churches across the UK. Some 3500 churches have already closed in the past ten years. In Scotland, the situation is particularly extreme, with around one third of all churches either closing or expected to close in the next few years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sophie Andreae, vice chair of the patrimony committee of the Catholic Bishops\u2019 Conference of England and Wales, emphasised that Catholic churches are more likely than those of many other denominations to be located in deprived urban areas and serve diverse immigrant communities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Read it all<\/a>.<\/p> The UK\u2019s parish churches are facing insurmountable repair bills and are on the brink of a \u201ccliff edge of closure\u201d, a conference at the Victoria and Albert Museum was told. https:\/\/t.co\/AOHnsms06K<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/ixrhXW0iiX<\/a><\/p>— The Tablet (@The_Tablet) October 27, 2025<\/a><\/blockquote>