Harborough town centre landmark set to undergo its most dramatic transformation in its 700-year history

St Dionysius Church is set to be closed for nine months in 2021 as it has a stunning top to bottom root and branch £1.5 million revamp.

The team leading the historic church’s extraordinary overhaul is now just waiting to get the final green light before pushing the starter button.

And they are staging a special open day at St Dionysius from 10am on Saturday February 29 giving local people the chance to see the bold, brilliant blueprint first hand.

The Rev James Pickersgill, team vicar at the landmark High Street church, told the Harborough Mail: “I’m very excited about this incredible grand vision to transform the church we all love.

“This is about turning an essentially medieval church into an ultra-modern church – beautifully equipped for the 21st century.”

He added: “We are taking a leap of faith by holding our public meeting here with everyone welcome on Leap Day on February 29!

“It is critical that we move with the times and make ourselves totally relevant as we head into the 2020s.

“I’m convinced we will attract more people to come and worship here with us at St Dionysius.

“And we’ll also grow and blossom into becoming a vital new social hub at the heart of the community here in Harborough.”

Tireless Rennie Quinn, 76, is the inspirational force behind the promised rebirth of one of the region’s most iconic churches.

Rennie, of Great Bowden, told the Mail: “This is a very ambitious, nuts and bolts reordering of the church – and it’s desperately needed.

“St Dionysius is old-fashioned.

“We are determined to take her forward and set her on the path of the next 700 years.

“I’ve helped to lead this extremely complex and lengthy process.

“But I’ve had the support of some fantastic people here.

“And so many have pitched in with brilliant ideas and suggestions along the way.”

The key features of the new reborn St Dionysius will be:

- A new floor with underfloor heating and new seats as the Victorian pews are ripped out

- A new kitchen with modern equipment and improved serving facilities in North aisle and two extra toilets

- Better accessibility through the South and West doors and reopened Priest’s door as the font is moved to the South aisle

- A new audiovisual system with screens in the galleries and side aisles together with enhanced sound system for speech and music

- A refurbished church organ

- Boosted, updated low energy lighting

- Improved stairs leading up the galleries and office

- A new flexible meeting facility in North aisle and improved storage in both aisles with Lady Chapel relocated to the quieter South aisle.

“Flexibility is our watchword.

“We are setting out to make St Dionysius a much more flexible resource,” stressed Rennie, who ended his highflying career as the Houston-based managing director of Severn Trent International.

“We want to transform our church into a fabulous, open space for everyone to enjoy and to use.

“Our vision is to create a much more accessible, inviting and welcoming place.

“While at the same time making sure that we retain and protect worship, quiet and prayer space.

“It’s a fine line to walk but I firmly believe that we can do it.”

The church warden said the dream of hauling the Middles Ages church into the 21st century stretches back about 15 years.

“St Di’s is a grade 1 listed building so it takes years to win permission to carry out vital changes.

“We have to follow a rigorous legal procedure before getting the final go-ahead,” said Rennie.

“Firstly, our scheme has to be agreed and backed by the Parochial Church Council.

“They then submit our proposals to the Diocesan Advisory Council.

“Our project is also vetted by powerful bodies such as Historic England (English Heritage), the Victorian Society, Georgian Group, Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings and Church Buildings Council.

“All of this can and does take years to negotiate!

“The Diocesan Advisory Council has now got behind us.

“So we are now progressing to the third and last stage in this amazingly long, complicated process.”

He said they now have to put up Public Notices inside and outside the church showcasing their barnstorming initiative.

“We’ll put those up before the public meeting here – and they’ll stay up for 28 days.

“The notices will allow anyone to pass judgment on our plans and send their comments to the Chancellor to the Diocese of Leicester,” said Rennie, who said they have a “worshipping community” of over 300 souls.

“The Chancellor is a judge in the church’s Consistory Court.

“And it’s they who will issue the faculty – giving us approval to fire the starting gun.

“We are hoping to kickstart the work in 2021.

“This amazing vision will cost us up to £1.5 million to realise so we’ll have to draw up a masterplan to raise the cash.

“We’ll have to close St Di’s for about nine months as work is carried out.

“So we’ll obviously have to find somewhere else to worship as our church becomes a hive of industry.

“St Dionysius has a history that defies belief.

“Oliver Cromwell is said to have sheltered his soldiers here after the pivotal Battle of Naseby in the Civil War in 1645.

“Now we hope to create our very own piece of history here over the next couple of years.”

The Rev Pickersgill, who’s been based at St Dionysius almost three years, said: “None of us can wait for our great church to be made even more magnificent.

“This is all about the people who worship here and all the other community groups who come here.

“The building, the fabric itself, is vital, of course.

“But first and foremost it’s the people who are the heart and soul of the church – and who make this a genuine, living, vibrant Place of God.

“This work is about both the holy and the holistic and it’s going to be one incredible adventure.”