Church tourism could provide much-needed funding for historic Shropshire buildings

Visiting churches for their history, architecture or their beautiful churchyards is becoming a popular pastime and helps the wider economy.

An initiative backed by the Heritage Lottery Fund is set to put church tourism on a professional footing.

Using new branding and technology, a pilot scheme in Herefordshire and Shropshire is serving as a blueprint for churches, which want to make the most of their potential to attract tourists.

“Herefordshire and Shropshire already have active Church Tourism Groups with two hundred plus members between them, churches that already take visitors seriously,” said Jenny Beard, from Herefordshire Churches Tourism Group.

“With over £200,000 in grant money, we are able to take medieval churches into the 21st century."

The funding will enable the use of contemporary branding, the installation of visitor counters and contactless giving points in selected churches.

This will be followed up with a digital marketing campaign as well as the development of popular themed tourism experiences to complement the holiday package that today’s tourists are already familiar with in the two counties.

“We are very excited about our new branding, which we will be rolling it out to our local member churches and hope that they will soon start opening the doors to the hidden secrets within.” added Anni Calver, Secretary of Shropshire Churches Tourism Group.

The project will be carrying out audience and visitor research, to inform church members of what their visitors are looking for and how they can better prepare the best experience for them. Church buildings have been closed during the Covid pandemic but they are already planning to be ready for the new season in 2021.

“We are fortunate locally to have an amazing number of stunning buildings many dating back a thousand years or more, and many examples of significant ones too”

The branding has been designed by Orphans Press, Leominster=. The local project has national partners in the National Churches Trust, the Churches Visitor & Tourism Association and the Church Conservation Trust.

Several churches in Shropshire have Saxon remains while Shrewsbury Cathedral was commissioned and paid for by the 16 th and 17 th Earls of Shrewsbury. Augustus Pugin was the chosen architect but he died in 1852 leaving his son Edward to finish it in 1856.

Leominster Priory is built on the site of a monastery founded in 660AD and 1400 years later still has Christian worship on the site.