Help is needed to allow the Lake District – and England’s – smallest parish church carry out a major restoration for the first time in 132 years.
St Olaf’s Church, in Wasdale, has been raising money since 2023 in an effort to carry out essential work to keep it fit for visitors.
The passage of time, weather and heavy footfall have taken their toll on the Grade II-listed 500-year-old church, which has left it in urgent need of repair and restoration.
Trustees of the church are hoping to start work in August this year – but the work required is very extensive and they need help to raise £65,000 to hit their goal of £210,000 in order to start work.
It’s a church that is open to the public almost every day and welcomes over 30,000 visitors every year – making it one of West Cumbria’s busiest visitor attractions.
It’s also the smallest parish church in England and has a 1,000-year history of worship on site, with old stories claiming some of the church’s ancient roof beams are made from Viking ships.
Hugh Foulerton, chair of the church’s trustees, said: “The first major restoration of St Olaf’s took place in 1892, now in the 132 years that have happened since, it has obviously been subject to wear and tear from the Wasdale weather, which is quite extreme at times.
“Also, it sees a huge footfall, we attract over 30,000 visitors a year, so we are actually one of the busiest visitor attractions in the West Lakes area. We’re behind Muncaster Castle and The Ratty, so we are rather busy.
“The main reason that sparked off the restoration is that a few roof slates have come down due to nail fatigue. The rusty nails put there in 1892 have rotted, which is not surprising as they’re very old.
“So we have to take them all off and fix them and as it happens the ceiling underneath is fixed straight onto the tiles, so you’d remove the ceiling and you then find you need a complete restoration.
“The other thing is over the years some bad work has been done, so for example in 1936 they took the lime mortar off the outside and replaced it with cement render.
“That was the vogue in those days but it turned out to be very harmful to old buildings, as it doesn’t let them breathe.”
Alongside roof repairs, the internal plaster of the church needs to be replaced and the outside needs to be re-rendered. Improvements to heating, lighting, internal furniture and accessibility are also needed.
Hugh added: “We will be taking the roof slates off, replacing them and fixing them back on with new nails, doing the internal plaster work, re-rendering the outside of the building and putting in new paths, as they’ve worn out due to footfall.
“We are also renovating the pews and fixing them up and we have a little organ which is going to be sent away to Durham and completely rebuilt, we’re also having our bell retuned and adding new seating in the churchyard along with a new gate.
“At the moment, we have a kissing gate, which is not friendly to people with mobility problems. Updating the building will put it back in first rate condition and conserve its heritage.”
Hugh said while hopes are high for work to start in August, if they don’t hit their fundraising goal, they will have to delay the work until next spring.
He added: “The cost of doing this in round figures is around £210,000 including VAT and we still have £65,000 to raise.
“We might get it in time to start in August and it would be a three-month project, but it can’t start later than that, because doing that kind of work in the winter is out of the question in Wasdale Head.
“So the more likely date is March next year. I’d love to get it done in August, but the the best will in the world, I think it’s going to be next year now.
“But our visitors are all chipping in and we’ve had some really good support so far from Cumbrian organisations like Cumbria Community Foundation and The Laing Family Trust and so on.”
Hugh added that over time, St Olaf’s had become a place where people, both religious and non-religious, regularly visited to find comfort during difficult times.
He said: “For generations, West Cumbrian people have come there when people have died and if you’ve ever looked at the prayer book in there, that tells its story.
“Around 40 per cent of people in the book are remembering people who have died or are praying for people who are ill. In many cases those people are very ill with things like terminal cancer.
“I think what they find is it’s a little humble place where they feel a bit special, whether they are Christians or have no faith at all.
“There’s something about that little building and no doubt its magical setting. It’s pretty spectacular with Great Gable, Scafell and Pillar surrounding it.”
To donate to the restoration of St Olaf’s Church, click here.
