Church of the Annunciation, Marble Arch, London

SHARING OUR FUTURE

THE ANNUNCIATION MARBLE ARCH

Region: London

Fee: up to £21,600 inc VAT (plus optional Pilots and Interpretation budget)

Closing Date: 1/12/2025

Link / Contact details to apply:

Please email your Proposal and CV to Fr Lincoln Harvey at lincoln.harvey@gmail.com, with the Email Header “Activity Plan”

Activity Plan Consultant

The Parochial Church Council of the Ecclesiastical Parish of The Annunciation Bryanston Street, St Marylebone seeks an Activity Plan Consultant to work up a comprehensive Activity Plan in the first half of 2026. The work should follow closely the National Lottery Heritage Fund guidance: https://www.heritagefund.org.uk/funding/good-practice-guidance/activity-plan

A detailed D/deaf community focused Activity Plan, where proposed activities that will be run post-capital completion, should be structured broadly as follows:

• The Annunciation, Marble Arch baseline data
• Strategic Framework
• Potential audiences – need and demand
• Consultation and comparators
• Summary of barriers to participation
• BSL Audience Development
• Extending and building audiences and active partnerships
• Volunteering Plan
• Organization and Management for delivery
• Marketing the Activity Plan
• Measures of success and evaluation strategy
• Legacy and sustainability
• Activity Action Plan (costed)
• Creation of job descriptions for project staff roles

Consideration should be given during the Development Phase to the activities where there have been initial discussions at the pre-First Round Development application/

Plus:

Training proposals: consideration should be given during the Development Phase for the potential to offer the Deaf Community; BSL Fellowship / Training, volunteer management/ attracting/ training, guided walk leader training, train the trainer, event stewarding training, equalities training, disabilities awareness training. The proposals will be delivered as part of the two year Activity Plan in the Delivery Phase.

Recommendations of resource, equipment and materials required to deliver sessions and activities.

An Interpretation Plan will also be required. This work can be incorporated with the Activity Plan or carried out as a separate piece of work with the architect. There is a budget of £6,000 inc for Interpretation as well as a Pilots Budget of £7,200 inc.

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Background Information

What we would like to achieve through the project

This large Grade II* listed Church of The Annunciation, Marble Arch (1912) by Walter Tapper, a leading 20thC architect, which is on Historic England’s At Risk Register, has recently completed a National Heritage Lottery Fund resilience project. It is a popular and increasingly well-used church close to Oxford Street, unfortunately hampered by several problems and barriers.

The project is Phase One of a Masterplan; it will make sound inroads into improving the Church’s condition through repair and conservation of the fabric. There will be a focus on the deteriorating nave and baptistry roof, addressing windows and high-level stonework, with re-ordering and access improvements. An extensive collection of rare ecclesiastical vestments dating from the 17thC will be conserved.

“Sharing our Future” focuses on strengthening a hub to benefit the deaf community with whom the Church is now continuously in dialogue. Activities have been piloted and links forged for a two-year activity plan directed towards providing skills training and other heritage activities for the deaf, targeting c.2,000 deaf people annually.

What we plan to do

The Church has been awarded a Development Grant of £447,000 (90%) and a Delivery Grant in principle of £2,278,000 (68%). Following advice from the Heritage Fund after the Church’s resilience project, the original project has been split into a three-phase Masterplan and this application focuses on phase one.

ACTIVITIES

All ongoing church activities will be focused on serving the deaf community, e.g. Sunday services, leadership team, staff training in BSL etc, ensuring the church is as welcoming as possible. Annually it is estimated that proposed targeted activities will generate some 20 deaf participants/trainees in specific heritage activities and overall it will increase deaf visitors/users /congregation from the current 60 to around 2,000. Project partners, new dedicated BSL staff, trained volunteers and some trained professionals will support or deliver the following activities:

• Developing further the regular Christmas Service for the deaf community with the Deaf Church, to Easter and additional services/events for the deaf community.
• A heritage lecture series led by Peter Brown, a deaf historian and BSL teacher from City Lit College involving other deaf speakers.
• A series of regular poetry workshops led by Ismael Mansoor, the British Deaf Association Poet Laureate.
• An Internship and Heritage Skills Training and Workshops, towards an exhibition in the Church (possibly in collaboration with Watts & Co), with Accentuate. The project will focus on the Church’s textile collection and other aspects of the Annunciation’s collections.
• A facilitated research project about Deaf Churches in London and the Home Counties with the Royal Association for Deaf (RAD) people.
• Walking Heritage Tours and tailored visits to Museums/Houses/Parks for deaf people – John Wilson
• Open Days - more general and regular half-day “get-togethers” with the deaf community in the Church to network, introduce heritage activities, receive advice e.g. careers, and socialise, with a range of different stands for consultation e.g. students, and older retired people, with the assistance of RAD.

DIGITAL

A new website and other online access improvements.

CAPITAL WORKS

Proposed Phase 1 works will address both the exterior and interior of the building, comprising repair and conservation work, plus access and infrastructure improvements. See appended Architectural Feasibility Study.

• External

- Re-roofing of the nave and baptistry

- Stonework repairs east and south sides

- Brickwork replacement where eroded on the east and south

- Repointing to brickwork & stonework east and south sides

- Conservation cleaning of windows east and south sides

- Access improvements to roofs

- Crack dowel repairs

- Installation of man safe system to nave roof

• Net Zero Carbon Measures:

- Installation of PV panels

- Installation of PIR motion sensors

- Introduction of roof insulation

- Installation of point-of-use water heaters

- Installation of draught seals/brushes to external doors

- Installation of secondary glazing to church rooms in crypt

- Replacement of light fittings with LED fittings

• Internal Reordering:

- Introduction of WCs at the entrance, including a wheelchair accessible facility

- Relocation of the St George’s altar

- Provision of heritage interpretation material and installations within the Narthex

• Internal Improvements:

- Installation of a new incoming water main

• External Improvements

- Access Improvements to paving

Need and opportunity

• The Annunciation has embarked on a journey which started with a resilience grant from the National Lottery Heritage Fund last year, and carefully considered its needs and opportunities. In the Heritage Fund Evaluation Report for the project, key recommendations were made for the future of the Church. As set out in the Audience Development work, some of these needs and opportunities with potential new audiences cannot immediately be pursued due to the smaller size of the scheme but later on down the line possibly in later phases they can be revisited.
• The main opportunity for this project is with the Deaf Church and the wider deaf community: the position for the Church and these groups has moved on significantly in recent months revealing opportunities with experienced partners such as RAD and Accentuate, and receiving sound advice from the Diocese of London. It is potentially possible to create a dedicated and meaningful hub for deaf people and this is now the focus of this application alongside very necessary capital improvements.
• Working proactively with the Deaf Community will be ground-breaking for the Church of England and introduce a new audience in need of better support. It will help to demonstrate the steps the Church is taking to be inclusive and welcoming to all members of the community. Further, doing this might enable more members of the existing congregation to volunteer with the Deaf Community increasing partnership between communities.
• The Church’s pilot work with the deaf community last year was very valuable albeit demonstrating that it needs to employ a Community Manager fluent in BSL and train staff and volunteers in first level BSL.
• The Church needs to carry out capital works urgently, in line with its Architectural Feasibility Study, primarily to remove the At Risk status of the Grade II* building by addressing its mounting problems, but also to resolve insulation issues and to upgrade

internal facilities, including importantly the need to address accessibility arrangements to required needs to improve signage and placemaking to enhance user experience and the visibility of the Church.

• Some of the opportunities are provided by the Church’s close proximity to Oxford Street, which receives an estimated 200 million visitors each year, making it one of the world’s most visited destinations. This number includes both tourists and locals, and around 70% of visitors arrive by public transport. This opportunity is reflected in the Church’s increasing number of general visitors.
• Being a stone’s throw from one of the busiest shopping districts in central London also means that many workers come into the area every day, the borough also includes pockets of deprivation, with low levels of educational attainment, employment and health and wellbeing issues.
• Rough sleepers are a visible presence around Oxford Street. Many find shelter in doorways and shop entrances, using makeshift beds and items for privacy. The issue is particularly pronounced due to the rising cost of living and a shortage of affordable housing, forcing more people onto the streets.
• The Church’s current Business Plan envisages better income generation, where a need to consolidate and diversify has been identified, making this more possible with a fully accessible church and an improved infrastructure. The Church is in demand from third parties as a space for music and cultural activities and has a chance to build on this.
• The Church needs to upgrade its current website to allow for a booking system, professional email addresses and more functionality to promote events in line with the Business Plan, and to showcase the heritage and history of the church to encourage more visitors; alongside this it needs to develop new GDPR policy
• To achieve this, it will be necessary to recruit a wider base of volunteers for cultural heritage events and space hires which are already on the increase.
• The condition of the large collection of Church vestments is generally poor and can be rectified at a cost that offers good value for money and enables skills training for the deaf community.
• The Church’s stories are an untapped asset, and capturing through deaf community activities the more recent community stories will uncover characters and themes relevant today.

Why now

• Visually the church is remarkable as it remains almost unchanged since its construction 110 years ago, and its atmosphere exudes spiritual peace and authenticity, something the Church will hold on to as it moves into its next phase. However, the vision and thrust of this project is getting the Church off the Risk Register and making it more accessible. It aims to put inclusivity at the forefront, in particular, as a flag ship project for the Deaf community. After a fruitful resilience period there is also a strong sense of momentum behind this project, underpinned by high-quality research and preparatory work which demonstrates that now is the right moment for the project to ramp up and start the work in hand.
• In explaining why the project needs to happen now it is also useful to be aware of the current position and recent journey of the Church (enlarged upon in the appended Business Plan):

- The Annunciation is a cosmopolitan and family-focused church in the Catholic tradition of churchmanship. It has a worshipping community of 300 people, comprising 120 in the 0-17 years age range, 170 in the 18-69 years age range and just 10 over 70 years old. The worshipping community is international and ethnically diverse, with no single nationality or ethnicity dominating. Most church attendees are local residents.

- Casual visitors annually have recently risen to c.16,000; an estimated 160 deaf people visited the Church last year, due partly to the pilot projects run in the resilience period.

- The Church has hosted many more concerts in the last year - it used to have 4-6 concerts a year, but had 26 in 2024. These included lots of children's music. Realistically, concerts average about 50 attendees, so it's a rise from 300 to 1300. The Church is aiming to double that to 52 concerts a year. It engages with over 700 primary school children during term time. 4 volunteers post covid have already grown to 30 regular volunteers, which includes some children (e.g. DofE awards).

- As set out in the Business Plan, the Church currently hosts some 38,900 visits a year with Church and special services benefitting c. 8150 visitors, work with schools benefitting 24,060 children (repeat visits) alongside recent news that annual casual visitors are numbering 16,000. Post-project these figures will shift considerably.

- Annually it is estimated that proposed targeted activities will generate some 20 deaf participants/trainees in specific heritage activities and overall it will increase deaf visitors/users /congregation from the current 30 to around 2,000 also benefitting increasingly more members of the deaf community post project as the Church’s reputation as a hub for deaf people spreads.

• The Church has embarked on a journey which, starting with a vision conceived by the PCC, was further informed by a resilience period funded by the Heritage Fund. An additional arm of the resilience project was the urgent repair and conservation of its Calvary War Memorial outside the Church which was vandalised. This small project in itself has been preparation for a larger project in highlighting the need for procurement, clear briefs, meticulous project management and cost control alongside a realistic programme.
• The Parochial Church Council (PCC) commissioned a team of consultants last year to deliver four reports: Governance Review; Audience Development; Business Planning; and a Fundraising strategy. These documents have been critical to shaping the project and verifying the need to do something that has the potential to be impactful and meet the Church’s vision. Having made that investment this is another reason there should be no further delay in moving the project on to the next phase. The PCC is committed to a new future and an increase and widening of its activities and users, drawing upon its unusual history and maximising fresh opportunities.
• Additionally, the “At Risk” elements of the capital project need to be urgently addressed and there are no alternatives other than to get on with the more urgent aspects of this work. This is addressed elsewhere in the application.

Advice / consultation

Proposals were submitted to the Diocesan Advisory Committee in January 2025 and

a DAC site visit was undertaken on 26th February 2025, also with representatives from The Church Buildings Council in attendance. A separate site visit was undertaken with

representatives of Historic England on 7th February 2025. The Victorian Society

did not attend the site visits, but offered comments via email. The main points arising from responses received are covered in the Architectural Feasibility Study. This feedback has assisted in a re-working of the internal re-ordering proposals for the Heritage Fund’s proposed phasing in

order that they now align with the advice of the various statutory consultees.

The Heritage

• The Church of the Annunciation Marble Arch was designed by architect Sir Walter Tapper (1861 –1935), completed in 1912–1913, and is considered to be his best ecclesiastical work. It is listed Grade II* with a separately listed Grade II Calvary War Memorial to the external SE corner, and is located within the Portman Estate Conservation Area.
• It is of high heritage significance: the significance of the church derives predominantly from the fact that the original Walter Tapper design remains largely intact, and that Tapper was responsible for much of the lavish detail of the various liturgical fittings. The Church has a high degree of communal significance, drawn in part from the War Memorial and the commemoration of members of the congregation who fell in the Great War. The rich array of church fittings are a source of significance for their individual artistic merit and group value.
• This large Anglo-Catholic church is a welcoming and comforting presence in the locality, held in great affection by those who live and work nearby, as well as its long-term primary school partner, Hampden Gurney, concert goers and many families utilising its popular Sunday School slot. Historically, as well as being a place of worship, the building was also traditionally a place where people could meet and discuss issues of truth and justice.
• The Church displays an extraordinary control of architectural composition – an early adaptation of the Gothic tradition to a modern church in brick; prompting the British Clay Worker in 1928 recording: ”Tapper is, of course, one of the most famous living exponents of brick technique. It was in the pre-war era that he electrified the building world by his remarkable creation of the Church of the Annunciation, in Quebec Street….”.
• The interior remains largely unaltered since its construction. Among notable features is the lighting confined to the clerestory, and the triforium carried over the nave arches. The quality and control of light is exceptional. The interior has a rood screen with a high triumphal crucifix over an arch crafted by Robert Bridgeman of Lichfield to designs by Tapper. The high altar reredos was designed by Tapper and made by Jack Bewsey who also designed most of the stained glass. Around the nave are plaster cast Stations of the Cross designed by Aloïs de Beule of Ghent. The lampidarium spanning the arch between the sanctuary and the Lady Chapel was designed by Pugin and originally hung above the high altar of St Chad's Cathedral, Birmingham.
• The Annunciation holds an extensive collection of ecclesiastical vestments and religious fabric (c.100 items), which includes one-off and rare examples, including items from the original Quebec Chapel, some early pieces from 17thC, fine examples of Victorian embroidery. Tapper’s banner to Our Lady, the last to survive in the Church, and was made by Watts & Co.
• Of further note is the well-loved Somerset Memorial, a figure of St George, placed as a memorial to Lieut Norman Arthur Henry Somerset who was killed at the Battle of Ypres in 1914, and there are other memorials of interest as set out in the Outline Conservation Plan.
• The recently restored War Memorial outside the Church commemorates those who lost their lives to the First World War including 69 servicemen of marked cosmopolitan make-up. The Memorial was installed shortly after construction of the Church. It is a community asset and is visited by regularly by local residents who come to pay their respects, lay flowers, pause to reflect or pray for peace. The Church holds an Act of Remembrance each November to mark the Armistice on Remembrance Sunday, when a procession leads to a two minutes of silence and ringing of the bell as the wreath is laid. This adds to the cultural richness of Marylebone and is highlighted in the culture map produced by Marble Arch Partnership.
• From humble rural beginnings, Walter Tapper rose to the top of his profession, serving as President of the Royal Institute of British Architects 1927-29. He was also appointed Surveyor to the Fabric of Westminster Abbey in 1928, where his restoration of royal chapels led to his knighthood (KCVO). He was elected a full Academician (RA) in his last year. Tapper was a perfectionist, less concerned with gaining numerous commissions, than with executing designs honestly and with an emphasis on the traditions of architecture. His work is often admired for its elegant simplicity, and one of his main aims in church design was spaciousness. He was described as a quiet, unassuming man who only came to prominence amongst his peers when they elected him President of the Royal Institute of British Architects in 1927; he is buried in Westminster Abbey.
• A large undercroft sits below the church, extending to the entire footprint, home to Bryanston Nursery, which occupies the western and central parts of the undercroft. This is operated separately from the church by a privately run commercial organisation.

Heritage at risk.

• The Annunciation Marble Arch is now on the Heritage at Risk Register (List entry 1066358) following incidents of falling masonry from parapet level which have become an increasing problem over the last few years. There is an urgent need to address these serious health & safety and building fabric concerns, along with rectifying other widespread defects with the external masonry and undertaking the renewal of defective roof coverings.
• Alongside these major issues, which are causing accelerated decay of the building fabric, there is a multitude of other conservation issues which should be addressed in the next few years in order that a comprehensive programme of conservation is undertaken.
• These are more fully described in the 2022 Quinquennial Inspection Report, but the text describing the primary building fabric issues is extracted as follows:
• Roof

- The church is now at a point where re- roofing needs to be considered, due to the evidence of nail-sickness in the slate roof. Although this is beyond the means of the parish at present, this will soon become essential, and a plan should be put in place to address this. Parapets

- Bath stone buttress cappings and projecting string courses to the south side have decayed badly in some locations and have previously been unsympathetically repaired using sand & cement mortar.

- It would appear that these repairs have worked loose and some have fallen in large pieces. The parish has employed a firm of abseilers to inspect every four months and to remove any loose material, but this has to be seen as a stop-gap measure before permanent repairs can be put in place. The parapet stones to the gables are also severely decayed in places and in need of renewal, so there is a high-level project to be undertaken to address all these issues collectively.

• External Walls
• Elsewhere, much repointing was undertaken in the 1950s involving sand & cement mortar. The building is now rejecting much of this mortar leaving joints once again exposed. This, combined with defective parapets is resulting in much dampness of the brickwork and decay of brick faces.
• Ideally, a programme of repairs and repointing encompassing the whole building would be undertaken as a single project in order to achieve a consistent approach although this will not be possible as the project has to be phased.

Who are the main people responsible for the work during the development phase of your project?

• The Church is led by Fr Lincoln Harvey who brings a wealth of experience from his career and has a clear vision for the Church improvements and has the full support of his PCC , the Diocese and other local stakeholders.
• The PCC is made up of skilled professionals from a range of sectors including finance, education, hospitality, architecture and the building industry. They have expertise in business and marketing, having run successful businesses in different fields. It includes company owners and directors, with experience in budgeting and project management, as well as entrepreneurship. It is diverse, international, and representative of the local community, including trusteeship on other public bodies and political campaigning.
• Three posts are envisaged: firstly, a part-time (4 days a week) Heritage Manager suitably qualified and experienced, to oversee the proposed outputs of the Development Phase grant, including procurement and all administration connected with it including the interface with the Heritage Fund. Also including assisting the Vicar with ongoing work in forging links with the Deaf Church and other Deaf Community Stakeholders and ensuring that pilots are successfully delivered as well as evaluation.
• Secondly a part-time (1 day a week) BSL Interpreter
• Thirdly, a full-time and experienced fundraiser (see JD) who will be charged with raising at least 75% of the Church’s funding target of nearly £1m by the end of the Development Phase in line with the church’s fundraising trategy. The Fundraiser’s work will be supported by the Vicar and a Fundraising Panel, utilising the networks cultivated last year.
• The Heritage Manager, the BSL Interpreter and the Fundraiser will report on progress regularly to the Steering Group and ensure that their work is “joined up” and fully-communicated.

There will be one design team, the Architectural Design Team, with responsibility for the capital scheme and other competitively appointed consultants will take on the Conservation Plan, the Activity Plan, Digital proposals, the Interpretation Plan and the Business Plan.

If you are D/deaf and would like to apply for this role we can offer an informal conversation about the role via zoom - and can also provide a BSL interpreter for that conversation. If someone wishes to apply via BSL in a video recording, we will accept that form of application. We welcome all applications from a wide range of candidates and are especially keen to hear from candidates with BSL backgrounds and whose backgrounds are currently under-represented in the heritage sector. We are an inclusive organization and actively promote equality of opportunity for all with the right mix of talent, skills and potential. Selection for roles will be based on individual merit alone and there shall be no discrimination on the basis of age, disability, sex and gender, race, religion or belief, gender reassignment, marriage/civil partnership, pregnancy/maternity, or sexual orientation.

Acknowledgement

Using money raised by National Lottery players, The National Lottery Heritage Fund supports projects that connect people and communities with the UK’s heritage. Sharing our Future is made possible with The National Lottery Heritage Fund. Thanks to National Lottery players, we have funds to provide an Activity Plan for this project.