Historic priest's door is lovingly restored as part of St Dionysius Church conservation works in Harborough
Conservation work has been completed at St Dionysius Church – Market Harborough’s oldest working building.
The heritage project has included a reinstatement of the historic priest’s door and works to surrounding stonework to install an additional fire exit.
The building is a Grade I listed parish church, noted for its architectural merit, within the Market Harborough Conservation Area. It is one of four key heritage buildings in the town’s Cultural Quarter and a focal point of the high street.
Harborough District Council awarded £40,000 from its UK Shared Prosperity Funding towards the conservation project.
The Reverend Phil Bryson said: “We, at St Dionysius Church, are hugely grateful for the generosity of Harborough District Council, as well as the generosity and time of the Friends of St Dionysius, which has enabled the re-introduction of the priest's door. This door is a reminder of the historical door that once stood in its place, and it enhances the aesthetics of the vibrant Cultural Quarter. It will provide an important fire exit, helping us to keep worshippers and the local community safe when using our beautiful church - the town's oldest functioning building.”
Cat Hartley, the council’s director of communities and wellbeing, added: “The church is of great architectural and historical significance to Market Harborough, so we are pleased to be able to support this community project to reinstate the priest’s door and remedy stonework. We recognise a lot of people use the church so allocating funding to improve the building’s safety and accessibility is necessary and important.”