Church grant

St Magnus Episcopal Church in Lerwick will be restored with the help of a £12,000 grant from the council.

Members of the SIC’s planning committee agreed the move when they met at the Town Hall on Wednesday.

The money will form part of a financial package that will enable the church to undertake a comprehensive programme of con­servation and repair works.

Developers will be asked to strip all roof pitches and re-cover with Scotch slate.

Stonework repairs will be carried out as part of the restoration and stained glass windows will also be repaired.

Rainwater goods, such as drain­pipes, will be replaced in cast iron.

The maximum grant available from the council is generally £5,000.

However because of the arch­itectural and historic interest of the building, and the scale of the cost of works proposed – expected to amount to £435,000 – councillors agreed to make a £12,000 payment as recommended by officials.

The grant can be made from the existing conservation grant budget.

A report before the committee held the church as one of the finest ecclesiastical buildings in Shet­land.

It was designed and built in 1862-64 by Alexander Ellis of Aberdeen, with the distinctive bell tower – also by Ellis – added in 1891.

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