Historic Buildings

A Pick, The Pike and A Pear Tree

We will transform St Cuthbert’s Church from a vulnerable building into a vibrant, resilient community landmark, safeguarding over a thousand years of worship, craft, and memory while fostering inclusive connection, learning, and wellbeing in one of England’s most remote rural parishes. The surrounding upland fells, often misread as empty, hold a dense weave of cultural and ecological histories shaped by miners, farmers, and quarry-workers. We will reveal these intertwined narratives through community-led interpretation: heritage walks from a dry-stone gathering point, seasonal activities in the graveyard meadow, storytelling rooted in local voices, and events that bring past and present into dialogue. In a place where isolation is common and communal spaces rare, this project will upgrade and secure St Cuthbert’s future as a living place of heritage and community, rooted in the land and defined by enduring stewardship to become a vital hub for creativity, connection, care, and cultural exchange.