Friends of Friendless Churches
The Friends of Friendless Churches is a registered charity formed in 1957 and active in England and Wales. It campaigns for and rescues redundant historic churches threatened by demolition, decay, or inappropriate conversion. To that end, as of September 2018, it owns 51 former churches or chapels, 26 of which are in England, and 25 in Wales.
History
The charity was formed in 1957 by Ivor Bulmer-Thomas, a writer, former MP and a high church Anglican, who became its first chairman; its executive committee included prominent politicians and architects. Initially the charity campaigned and obtained grants for the repair and restoration of churches within its remit. The 1968 Pastoral Measure established the Redundant Churches Fund, which it was thought would obviate the need for the Friends. However, the Church Commissioners turned down a number of buildings that the executive committee considered worthy of preservation, including Old St Matthew's Church, Lightcliffe, and St Peter's Church, Wickham Bishops. The charity therefore decided in 1972 to change its constitution, allowing it to acquire threatened buildings either by freehold or by lease. The tower of the church at Lightcliffe was the first property to be vested with the charity.Activities
The charity raises money from a number of sources. Since 1999, it has been recognised in Wales as the equivalent of the Churches Conservation Trust, and as a consequence receives full funding for taking Anglican churches into its care. Of this, 70% comes from the State via Cadw, and 30% from the Church in Wales. In England, grants are sometimes obtained from bodies such as English Heritage, as in the case of St Mary's Church, Mundon, but otherwise funds are raised by donations and local money-raising campaigns. Some of the churches have been supported by the formation of local groups of Friends, such as Caldecote Church Friends, and the Friends of St Andrew's, Wood Walton. Members of the public can make donations, become a member of the charity, or leave a legacy in their wills. In addition the charity administers two trusts, one of which, the Cottam Will Trust, was established by Rev S. E. Cottam for "the advancement of religion of objects of beauty to be placed in ancient Gothic churches either in England or Wales". The charity works closely with the Ancient Monuments Society.All the churches owned by the charity are listed buildings, and most are former Anglican churches, either from the Church of England or the Church in Wales, although three were private chapels: one, the Strict and Particular Baptist Chapel, Waddesdon, was a Nonconformist chapel, and another, St Mary of the Angels Church, Brownshill, was a Roman Catholic church.
In 2007 the charity achieved its 50th anniversary, in celebration of which they published a book entitled Saving Churches, containing details of their history and accounts of their churches.
In the financial year ending 31 March 2018, the income of the charity was £422,000 and its expenditure was £447,000. Its patronage is vacant, following the death of the Marquess of Anglesey in 2013. The ecclesiastical patron is Rev Wyn Evans, Bishop of St David's and the president is the Marquess of Salisbury. Rachel Morley has been the director of the charity since 2018, and as of 2020 there were one and a half members of staff.
List of vested churches
The list is in two sections, one for England and the other for Wales. This division reflects the former management of most of the English churches by the Church of England and of the Welsh churches by the Church in Wales, and the different funding arrangements in the two countries.Key
| Grade | Criteria |
| I | Buildings of exceptional interest, sometimes considered to be internationally important |
| II* | Particularly important buildings of more than special interest |
| II | Buildings of national importance and special interest |