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A much loved Monmouthshire church is to share in a £333,000 funding payout from the National Churches Trust.A £20,000 National Churches Trust Cornerstone Grant will help fund the installation of toilets and a kitchen at the Grade II listed St Michael’s church, Tintern, making the church better able to serve its local community.[caption id="attachment_14109" align="alignleft" width="113"] Huw Edwards[/caption]Broadcaster and journalist Huw Edwards, Vice President of The National Churches Trust, said: “The UK's historic churches and chapels are a vital part of our national heritage. During the coronavirus pandemic churches are doing so much to help vulnerable local people and boost morale.“Many churches need to carry out urgent repairs and install modern facilities to ensure their buildings can continue to be used well into the future. But the cost of this work is often far beyond what most congregations can pay for themselves.”“So, I’m delighted that St Michael’s Church, Tintern is being helped with a £20,000 National Churches Trust Grant. The work on the installation of toilets and a kitchen will help secure the future of this important and much-loved historic build and will enabling it to do even more to help local people.”The grant will help fund a reordering inside the church to include toilets and a kitchen.Focal minister Jan Pain and churchwarden Alan Hillard, said: “We are so grateful to the National Churches Trust for this grant which will enable St Michael’s to better serve the needs of Tintern’s residents today and for generations to come. Bringing its facilities up to modern-day standards will be of special help in encouraging gatherings at the church from all parts of our community.”History of St Michael'sSt Michael’s is a small church sitting on the Welsh bank of the River Wye. It was the location of a Celtic church long before the Cistercian monks arrived to create Tintern Abbey. It could well have been used by King Tewdric, a local Welsh chieftain who came out of retirement as a hermit in Tintern to defeat the Saxons in a battle close by.It is certainly thought that worship to St Michael’s will have taken place from the time a church on the site was dedicated to the saint around 765 AD; this is border country and the soldiers of the time revered the great archangel Michael as their saint.While much of the church dates back to medieval times, it took its present form in 1846 when it was enlarged. The medieval fabric survives to some considerable degree and the South Porch dates from the late 15th century and is unusually elaborate with a vaulted ceiling; the quadripartite vault with corner colenettes and narrow stone bench seats is of importance.In 1839, WH Thomas wrote, "By the churchyard stile, and beneath the dark mantling boughs of the yew, a scene of exquisite sweetness steals upon the eye - the beautiful meadows beyond are skirted by a ridge of lofty woods, with the gentle Wye flowing like a liquid mirror below.... the unmolested sheep repose in grateful shade." This is a picture largely unchanged some 180 years on.ENDSNOTES TO EDITORSAbout the National Churches TrustThe National Churches Trust is the leading national independent charity concerned with the protection and welfare of churches, chapels and meeting houses throughout the United Kingdom. We aim to:Provide grants for the repair, maintenance and modernisation of church buildingsAct as a catalyst to improve and bring more resources to the management of church buildingsPromote the value of church buildings to the community at large For more information visit www.nationalchurchestrust.org