Church to get first toilet in 1,000 years

A Grade I-listed church is to get running water inside for the first time in its 1,000-year history.

St James' Church in Great Ormside, near Appleby, Cumbria, is getting a new accessible toilet and kitchen facilities with the help of a £10,000 grant from the Headley Trust.

The 11th Century church currently relies on an outdoor tap connected to the mains water supply, but historically people carried water to the site from a village well.

The church said it hoped the improvements would make the site more welcoming and hospitable, after attendees at weddings and funerals had previously had to rely on nearby residents' homes for bathroom access.

"People have sometimes come from a long way to go to funerals and weddings and there was nowhere in the village to go to the loo," church warden Margaret Parry said.

"Sometimes people would let them use their house to go if they knew about it, but it really wasn't very convenient."

She believes the last time the church had a toilet was around the time of the English Civil War, in the mid-17th Century.

St James' Church is a landmark on Lady Anne's Way, a 100-mile (161km) walking path between Skipton in Yorkshire and Penrith.

Parry said the changes would make the church better equipped to cater for passers-by.

"There are a lot of visitors that come to church and it would give more opportunities for them," she said.

Parry added: "It would be nice to have somewhere where they can sit and have a drink and go to the loo if needed - it's more of an outreach thing than anything else."

She hopes the toilet will be ready by Christmas and the kitchen by spring.

The grant was awarded by the National Churches Trust, on behalf of the Headley Trust, according St James' Church treasurer Sally Ridley.

She said work on the new drainage system was already under way, with joinery work on the accessible toilet to begin on 15 September.

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