As with many parishes churches, St Mary Magdelene’s Church in Geddington, in the Deanery of Kettering, has important historic fabric which needs careful maintenance and on occasion items have had such damage over the preceeding centuries that restoration is required. Not only does this take huge amounts of time, patience and fundraising, but it also requires a key vision for what the restoration can achieve.
At Geddington, the initial concept for the restoration of their medieval reredos started back in 1991 when a survey showed that unsuitable materials used to repair the surrounding stonework in the 1940s had caused damage, but it wasn’t until a conservation plan was written in 2018 that the current project got underway. The specific aim was to restore the reredos, bringing it back to its former glory and making it the focal point for the worship in the church as well as a beautiful historic artwork for the community, visitors and scholars to marvel at.
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| The reredos as it was in 2003 |
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| The reredos after restoration |
The difference between this project and many others that are so nobly undertaken by our parishes, is that the funding came in large part from the Heritage Lottery Fund, which enabled not just the restoration work itself, but a heritage interpretation consultant and an education consultant. This meant that whilst the work was carried out, photography and filming captured the work, undertaken by specialist conservators Hirst, the history was written and the local school was consulted, leading in turn to a wonderful range of high quality interpretation.
The interpretation appeals to all, with a full academic historical research document, beautifully produced with full colour images, an imaginative and well presented video explainer which can be shown in the church, and a children’s scavenger hunt. This hunt asks the participants to visit 7 key sites in the church, which all have their own branded, free standing information boards and marries the vibrant history of the church with its role as a centre of worship down the ages.
Watch the full video of the restoration story here:
The history isn’t confined to the church building however, the funding which paid for the interpretation went far enough to pay for a new church identity, with the symbol taken from the centre of the reredos, and reproduced both on the literature and on the website, where a new dedicated section means that numerous scholars have been in touch wanting to know more and help put this remarkable church on the academic map.
As always projects like these the real heroes are the church volunteer steering group who dealt with the mountains of paperwork and tirelessly kept the project on track. The result alongside a stunningly beautiful restored reredos is increased visitor numbers to the church, increased congregation numbers, and increased engagement with the local community and school.