Village Church for Village Life Award 2008
“Churches are truly democratic buildings, the meeting place of ordinary people in times past. Parish churches are buildings for the community and should be used for every kind of activity. That is a fact which should be built upon for their survival along with the fact that a great number are major architectural masterpieces. The key word for the twenty-first century is surely adaptability.”
Sir Roy Strong, A little History of the English Country Church
In 2008, Country Life magazine will be supporting the Village Church for Village Life Award. It will be presented for the finest adaptation of a historic rural parish church which allows for its continuing life as a place of worship as well as encouraging a use of the building for the wider social benefit of the village in the 21st century.
The award is to be presented by Sir Roy Strong and is generously supported by the Mercer's Company. The winning church will be awarded a prize of £10,000 and the runner up one of £5,000.
Country Life will be seeking nominations for the award from December 20th this year. Relevant rural village churches must still be in use for worship and be able to demonstrate that they are used by the wider community for the social benefit of the village as a whole. Also, that any adaptations to the fabric have been done to a high standard, preserving the integrity of the church. The focus of the award will be for alterations which have been completed out since 2000. An article in Country Life by Sir Roy Strong, to be published on December 20th, will launch the award.
It is hoped that the nature of this exciting award will both encourage relevant projects to come forward and inspire other churches to make changes to return to the heart of village life.
Just as the 20th century was about saving the country house, the 21st century will be about saving our great historic churches.
For more information, please contact Susannah Glynn at Country Life magazine on 020 3148 4442.