Church of the Annunciation, Marble Arch, London

“Sharing our Future” - The Annunciation Marble Arch gains support from The National Lottery Heritage Fund to restore Grade II* Church and create a hub for the Deaf community

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It’s been announced today that the Church of the Annunciation Marble Arch has received support from The National Lottery Heritage Fund for its “Sharing our Future” project.

Made possible by National Lottery players, development funding of £447,000 has been awarded by the Heritage Fund to help the church progress its plans to apply for a full National Lottery grant of £2.3million at a later date.

The “Sharing our Future” project will restore this much-loved Grade II* listed church in the heart of London and create a hub for the deaf community, bringing it back to its historic home.

The first purposely built church for the deaf community opened on Oxford Street in 1873. It moved to a new building in Acton in 1925 before sadly closing in 2014. It is hoped that this project will create a new flagship hub for the community, working with The Deaf Church, and other key organisations such as The Royal Association for Deaf People, to tailor services and events as well as offer a two-year activity plan in subjects such as skills training and other heritage activities.

As part of the project, the fabric of the church will be conserved and restored, focusing on the deteriorating nave and baptistry roof, addressing windows and high-level stonework, and includes re-ordering and access improvements. Anextensive collection of rare ecclesiastical vestments dating from the 17th century will also be conserved. This is Phase One of the Masterplan, looking to address conservation and restoration needs.

Commenting on the project, Fr Lincoln Harvey, Vicar of the Annunciation Marble Arch, said:“When our church was built, it was reported that Sir Walter Tapper had “electrified the building world by his remarkable creation of the Church of the Annunciation,” but we now need to return the building to its former glory. We are thrilled to have received this initial support from The National Lottery Heritage Fund. Thanks to National Lottery players we can now develop our plans to address the Church’s problems and the needs of our community, as well as further develop our church as a centre of life for the deaf community.”

Commenting on the project, The Rt Revd Alastair Cutting,Bishop of Woolwich, and Lead bishop for ministry amongst the d/Deaf, said: “This is such good news for The Annunciation, and great news for the D/deaf community in and around London. The Annunciation has long been a hub for occasional gatherings and celebrations of the Deaf community. This new work on the buildings and facilities allows for this vital ministry to be expanded, enriched and made much more accessible. Their offer will be able to become more regular, frequent - a much more everyday-ministry. The Annunciation’s central London location allows it to be available to not only the Deaf within the Diocese of London, but also support the important wider Deaf ministry taking place in the London boroughs in the Dioceses of Southwark, Chelmsford and Rochester too, and we warmly welcome it, looking forward to being able to benefit from it more widely.”

Commenting on the project, Penelope Beschizza, Southwark & London Diocese Deaf Ministry Coordinator, said:“Heritage Fund Development Phase Grant may be a ‘mouthful’, but for us in the Deaf Community – within both Greater London and neighbouring Home Counties – it sounds delightful and we are grateful. We intend to continue evolving and developing Deaf Spaces in the Church and Christian Settings, hence the Church of the Annunciation is potentially a great space in a great location for us. We combine our faith, Deaf Cultural social and historical values within this new “Sharing our Future” journey: we Deaf people are part of London’s diverse worshipping community.”

Stuart McLeod, Director of England - London & South at The National Lottery Heritage Fund, said: “Thanks to National Lottery players, we’re proud to support the Church of the Annunciation Marble Arch in its efforts to preserve an exceptional piece of London’s heritage while creating a meaningful space for the Deaf community. Not only will it restore this beautiful Grade II* listed building for the next generation but it will put inclusivity at the forefront by creating a flagship home for the Deaf community near Oxford Street once more. We look forward to working with the team to progress their plans to apply for a full National Lottery grant at a later date.”

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, just off Oxford Street in the West End of London. The church is of high heritage significance, deriving predominantly from the fact that the original design by Sir Walter Tapper remains largely intact, with Tapper being responsible for much of the lavish detail of the various liturgical fixtures and fittings. Among notable features is the lighting confined to the clerestory, and the triforium carried over the nave arches where the quality and control of light is exceptional. The Annunciation also 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 that stood on the site), and some early pieces from the 17th century and fine examples of Victorian embroidery. Tapper’s own banner to Our Lady was made by Watts & Co and is the last to survive in the church. This rich array of church fittings is a source of significance for their individual artistic merit and their group value.

The church is beautifully decorated and is a welcoming and comforting presence in the locality. It is held in great affection by international visitors and those who live and work nearby as it is open from 10am to 6pm each day midweek to provide an oasis of peace amidst the hustle and bustle of the West End. It is also highly valued by its long-term primary school partner, Hampden Gurney Church of England Primary School, concert goers, and the many local families who utilise its popular Sunday School each week. The church’s high degree of communal significance is also drawn in part from its Calvary War Memorial and the commemoration of members of the congregation who fell in the Great War, which is located on the corner of Bryanston Street and Old Quebec Street.

Without this funding from the Heritage Fund the church would remain on Historic England’s Heritage at Risk Register and be unable to implement improvements to benefit the Deaf community. The planned interpretation onsite and digital plans will capture the special relationship between the church, its distinctive stories and its audiences, and at the same time create new history by its work with Deaf community. The church will be running pilot projects for the Deaf community next summer and if you are interested in attending, do visit our website here to check for news and information.

ENDS

Notes to Editors

About The Annunciation Marble Arch

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.

The church is open from 10am-6pm Monday to Friday. 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 few years including lots of children's music.

The Church engages with over 700 primary school children during term time. 4 volunteers post covid have already grown to 30 regular volunteers.

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.

About The National Lottery Heritage Fund

*Grant applications over £250,000 are assessed in two rounds. The Annunciation Marble Arch has initially been granted round one development funding of £447,000 from The National Lottery Heritage Fund, allowing it to progress with its plans. Detailed proposals are then considered by the Heritage Fund at second round, where a final decision is made on the full funding award of £2.3m.

Our vision is for heritage to be valued, cared for and sustained for everyone, now and in the future. That’s why as the largest funder for the UK’s heritage we are dedicated to supporting projects that connect people and communities to heritage, as set out in our strategic plan, Heritage 2033. Heritage can be anything from the past that people value and want to pass on to future generations. We believe in the power of heritage to ignite the imagination, offer joy and inspiration, and to build pride in place and connection to the past.

Over the next 10 years, we aim to invest £3.6billion raised for good causes by National Lottery players to make a decisive difference for people, places and communities.

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