Permanent repairs are due to be carried out at a Chester city centre church after it was granted over £93,000 of Government funding.

St Peter's Church on Watergate Street, by Chester Cross, was closed for over a month in February 2023 after one of its church walls was judged to be in a potentially dangerous structural condition, and was potentially months away from collapsing.

Following temporary works carried out to the church, a section at the bottom of Northgate Street – which had been cordoned off for pedestrians' safety – was reopened, as was the church itself in March, albeit with temporary stabilisation in place via internal tension straps.

This was after an outward bulge of up to 15cm was found on the east wall in May 2022.

Planning permission had since been sought – and successfully obtained – for permanent repairs to the Grade I-listed building, which would involve two new mattress plates on the east wall.

Now repairs are expected to take place after the church was successful in winning £93,080 of funding as part of the UK Shared Prosperity Fund Community and Place, which is a central pillar of the UK government’s Levelling Up agenda and provides funding for local projects to improve pride in place and increase life chances across the UK.

Other projects

As well as the repairs to the historic church, work will also improve accessibility.

Several other Chester projects have been successful in obtaining thousands of pounds of funding for 2024-2025.

The biggest single grant – £122,506 – will go to the refurbishment of Lache Community Centre, to increase usage and services to residents. An extensive community consultation took place between June and September 2023 and forms part of the Lache Action Plan.

Chester city centre's Eastgate Rows will get improvements on both sides of the street. a total of £118,988 will be spent on working with property owners to improve disabled access on Eastgate Row South, while £73,485 will be spent undertaking a heritage-led refurbishment of public realm areas of Eastgate Row North.

Live Cheshire will receive £49,621 to go towards a feasibility study for an independent charity delivering fully inclusive and accessible clubs and social activities for disabled people in the former New Scene Centre, to maximising the potential of their building.

Cheshire West and Chester Council will receive a £38,560 grant to develop a costed and clear plan of how to enhance the city walls and towers as a visitor attraction and destination.

Chester Zoo receives £30,861 for a project titled 'Networks for Nature Wildlife Champions', to galvanise and support social action to improve local neighbourhoods and green spaces, especially in deprived neighbourhoods.

Chester Cathedral will be granted £27,000 for a project titled 'Reflections', a series of exhibitions celebrating the work of 20th century stained glass artist Trena Cox.