The spire at St John’s Church was covered with scaffolding for a couple of months leading up to Christmas, making this iconic landmark look a bit like a Chinese Pagoda!
The scaffolding was removed in phases as work progressed, with the repairs to the spire due to be completed prior to Christmas. The restoration work included repair of the church clock, which it is hoped will again be keeping accurate time for all to see.
The repairs have been made possible by a very generous grant from the National Lottery Heritage Fund. The spire would not have been repaired without this grant, alongside the contributions from the church congregation and wider community.
As well as the restoration work, the Spire Project has allowed the church congregation at St John’s to work with a heritage worker to collect personal and local memories of St John’s and the wider community.
Together they have been discovering, exploring and celebrating the heritage of St John’s and the community it serves. There have been several photographs, life stories and memories of living, working and growing up in Worksop. Contributions have been received from people in the community as well as members of the congregation.
This has allowed the telling of individual stories of some of the men who died in WWI and WWII and whose names are on the war memorials inside St John’s. The chair of the restoration project has delivered lessons for school pupils studying the wartime period, thus enhancing their curriculum and giving their studies a local focus on wartime Worksop.
Art projects focusing on the heritage of the local area and some features of St John’s Church have also been delivered to local young people – and there are more planned for the New Year.
The heritage side of the project is ongoing. The church would love to hear your stories, hear about your memories and see your old photographs of St John’s and the local area as they build up a heritage resource to share with future generations.
If you have something to share or would like to just go along for a coffee and a chat, visit the new coffee morning ‘Tuesdays at 10’ in St John’s Church Lounge at 10.00am every Tuesday from 9th January. There is level access from the church car park off Overend Road. Everyone is welcome!
For more information search ‘St John’s Worksop Memories’ on Facebook, email office.worksopstjohn@gmail.com or visit www.worksopspire.org.