Grant to save city's tallest parish church spire

A Grade II listed church has received a £250,000 heritage grant which will be used to restore and protect its spire "for generations to come", the Diocese of Sheffield has said.

St John's Church in Ranmoor will use money from the National Lottery Heritage Fund for "urgent" restoration work after problems with the structure were discovered a few years ago.

A total of £750,000 has already been raised by the community and through other grants.

The Reverend Canon Dr Matthew Rhodes, the vicar of St John's, said: "We're just really grateful for the community's support. Lots of people have been getting behind this."

The spire of St John's is the tallest parish church spire in Sheffield and is visible from across the city.

Built in 1881, it is the only remaining feature of the original church building which was destroyed by a fire eight years after its construction.

Rhodes said the walls of the spire were getting thinner, and if left untouched, would eventually collapse.

He said that some members of the congregation had taken part in the Sheffield 10K on Sunday to help raise money for the £1m restoration.

The church will celebrate its 150th anniversary in 2029 and the vicar hopes the work, which is set to start in spring, will be completed by the end of 2028.

He said the church would remain open and services would take place as usual while the work was being carried out.

The Diocese of Sheffield said that the "Save Our Spire" project would protect the historical structure, while volunteer researchers would seek to uncover the history of the people who had lived and worked in Ranmoor.

They said the research would then be shared in talks, exhibitions, workshops and school activities.

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