The architects overseeing repairs to St Mary’s Church in Kirkby Lonsdale have welcomed a major funding boost towards securing its future.

The National Lottery Heritage Fund has announced £370,446 towards an ambitious programme of repairs and improvements to the 900-year-old building.

The development grant will allow the project team to develop plans to apply for a full grant of £4,629,508 at a later date .

Parts of St Mary’s date back to Norman times and the Grade I-listed church is one of only five ‘major churches’ in Cumbria. It is also on the Heritage at Risk Register at the highest level.

Crosby Granger Architects, based in nearby Kendal, are the appointed architectural firm for the project and director Chloe Granger said that, without this work, the church was in danger of rapid decline with the possibility of closing if nothing is done.

The project aims to make sure the building, which is the largest in Kirkby Lonsdale, remains at the heart of the town for generations to come, protecting its historic fabric while creating a more flexible and welcoming space for the local community and visitors.

As well as repairs, Crosby Granger Architects and partner teams will look at ways of using the building in ways that will earn money for its upkeep.

Chloe said: "We're going to be leading the professional team to develop the scheme, making sure that the church, our client, gets everything they need on the inside to generate the income and deliver their needs, but we will also be preparing all of the conservation and repair details to fix the building.

"The roof is leaking very badly, the slates are at the end of their life and are falling constantly, and water is pouring into the tower so much that it's green with algae on the inside."

The plans include repairs to the tower, a new roof and changes to the interior, alongside improved heritage interpretation to bring the church’s history, stories and oral histories to life. There are also proposals for guided tours of the church and tower, a bell-ringing school, an expanded programme of events, an accessible café trial and the town’s first Changing Places toilet.

Chloe said they now had two years in which to submit an application for further funding and would start by reviewing the current sketch designs for the interior of St Mary's.

She added: "It’s been a huge team effort so far, and for us it's incredibly exciting to be through to the next stage. We’re just down the road, and are invested in the prosperity of the town, as well as this wonderful building. So for us, it's an absolutely great project."

Peter Gregson, project lead at St Mary’s Church, said: “Thanks to National Lottery players we can now develop our plans to repair and restore this wonderful building, tell its stories and realise our ambition of keeping it open ‘for all, for all time’.”

Helen Featherstone, director, England, North at The National Lottery Heritage Fund, said: “We’re thrilled to support St Mary’s Church with this initial grant to work towards repairing and restoring the striking, centuries-old Grade I listed building."