DECADES of smoke, incense and candles have finally taken their toll – but now historic St Charles Borromeo Church, a hidden gem in the centre of Hull, is embarking on a £1m restoration project.
The 19th century building – the mother church of the Catholic community in the city – withstood the aerial bombardment of two World Wars, but is now in dire need of repair and redecoration.
Walls are crumbling where blocked guttering some years back caused water to cascade into the church and 200-year-old paintings are sagging off their canvases.
The painted angels that peer out from all corners of the building – no-one has ever counted them all – should be rosy-pink and the Saints could do with a brush up, the glorious technicolour of the church’s Baroque interior having been muted by the accumulated grime of half a century.
Canon Michael Loughlin said: “Many people who come to see it for the first time are amazed by it.
“One of the English Heritage books described it as ‘one of the most astonishing interiors of any 19th century church’ and we want to make it as lovely as it should be.
“Some of the walls have crumbled and the plasterwork has deteriorated quite badly and generally the interior needs total cleaning or repainting.
“The water used to pour down the walls.
“Over the six years I have been here we’ve plugged most of the holes but as the damp has dried out, the plaster has started coming off the walls – and I think the children at Mass have been pressing the plaster back to brick in some places.
“We have all got fed up with the state of the place.
“Thankfully it is not a situation where the church is going to fall down. We are not saving a building in that sense”
The congregation has raised £50,000 so far and a probable bid of £1m will be made to the Heritage Lottery Fund for most of the remainder.
However, there will still be a funding gap and the Rt Rev Bishop Terence Drainey of Middlesbrough will be launching an appeal next Friday, July 8.
The hope is that churchgoers – their numbers have been swelled by the recent influx of immigrants – will each be willing to make monthly donations of £10 for the next four years.
Unlike many churches, St Charles is open during daylight hours and Canon Loughlin hopes more people will come and enjoy its unique interior.
“On the special Heritage open days we get quite a crowd, but I don’t think so many people realise the place is open or don’t think they can come in,” he said.
The church was the first major Catholic church to be built in Hull following centuries of persecution and its grandeur is in striking contrast to the modest chapels it replaced.
Money to build the church came from an emigre priest who escaped the French Revolution and came to Hull, laden with the paintings that now adorn the walls, and which still bear the tears made by Revolutionaries’ bayonets checking for hidden treasure.
Although the church dates back to the 19th century, the bones of Friars uncovered during a dig on what is now the site of the city’s magistrates courts were reburied within the crypt beneath the church, which also holds the bricked-up remains of Catholics who died from 1829 to 1846.
In a sloping hand written in concrete on one of the two underground “streets” is the message: “Full – not to be opened.”
Monsignor David Hogan, who is handling the funding application, said: “On one site the church represents a time capsule of history of Hull from the 12th century as there is the burial underground of the remains of Mediaeval Friars while the church itself owes its inception to the Napoleonic Wars.
“We have had every encouragement from the Heritage Lottery to pursue this, so we are hopeful.
“We are very anxious that this is seen as part of the heritage of Hull, it isn’t just a preoccupation within the Catholic community.
“This is an architectural treasure of Hull, that has much to tell you about the history of Hull.”
The appeal will be launched at the church in Jarratt Street, near the Hull New Theatre, in the presence of Lord Mayor Councillor Colin Inglis and other civic dignitaries and representatives of Catholic organisations from the city and the East Riding.
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