NEW Brighton’s Ss Peter, Paul and St Philomena’s Shrine Church has been awarded awarded a grant of almost £5,000 to restore three corroded steel framed windows.

The church, fondly known now as ‘The Dome of Home’, is cared for by the Institute of Christ the King and since 2013, it has undergone five major restoration projects funded by National Lottery Heritage Fund, AllChurches Trust, National Churches Trust (NCT)and private donations large and small.

While undertaking the redecoration at The Dome earlier this year, three further windows were found to need repairs badly. Scaffolding had been installed to allow access to the high ceiling, but unexpectedly, when the architect examined these high-level windows, the corroded steel frames pushed through. As this was not included in the large National Lottery funded project to restore the dome, drum and main Sanctuary roofs, it was an extra strain on already stretched resources with the NCT now stepping in with additional funding.

The Rector of the Shrine, Canon Amaury Montjean said, “We’re very grateful to NCT for this Providential award. I’m hoping all the work, decorating, lighting scheme and these windows will be completed by Christmas, ready for visitors.”

The Dome of Home has also begun a programme of activities to engage a wider audience including a programme of talks about organ music and a memory project.

Anne Archer, project manager, said:“Many people have happy memories of Merseyside’s own traditional English seaside resort - New Brighton. To celebrate the church’s restoration, we will be launching a Memory Project in January 2020 to collect memories about ’New Brighton: 86 years under the shelter of The Dome’, for local exhibitions, submission to our guidebook and archived with Wallasey Central Library.”

If anyone is interested in submitting memories of New Brighton in general and/or the church, or helping with the collection and sorting, please email contactus@domeofhome.org