Would you like to help secure the future of St Deny’s Church for the residents of Eaton?

Our lovely St Deny’s church is a Grade 1 listed building of national heritage importance. However it is under threat due to erosion of the ironstone especially in the tower and spire and the SE corner to the right of the porch. As a consequence the church is on the  English Heritage ‘At Risk’ register and there’s a real risk we have to close the building for safety if we don’t take action.  We are facing a cost of over £335,000 for the repairs so we are making an application to the National Lottery Heritage fund and a range of smaller Trusts and grant funders – as well as fundraising in the village!

As well as restoration we want to celebrate the beauty and the history of our church and its role at the centre of village life over the centuries. We are focusing especially on the history of ironstone and how the village must have changed with the arrival of ironstone mining in the mid 19th century changing both the social mix in the village but also the landscape and ecology.

We are also hoping to secure funding to allow the installation of a bank of swift nest boxes in the church tower with cameras allowing everyone to be able to view these fascinating, but threatened, birds as they raise their young

But just as important, we want to see this wonderful building used more as a social hub, to welcome everybody in the village and to increase the wellbeing of our community.

To do this, and to help us to secure National Lottery Heritage funding, we need as many people as possible to give their input by completing this survey: