|
David Bage tells us: Until the hurricane of 1987 its congregation had kept this church in good repair. Kingsdown parish was amalgamated with Lynsted (ecclesiastically) in 1956 into the parish of Lynsted-with-Kingsdown. None of the expenses fell to the congregation of Lynsted. It always managed to raise monies to do whatever it had to do; it also managed to contribute a fair share of the expenses, which fell on the whole combined parish. In 1987 the church was severely damaged in the hurricane but had not been insured against storm damage. This occurred during the interregnum when our parish was to go into a larger group of parishes under one priest and it was unlikely that services at Kingsdown would be retained and the church would become redundant and in no way would the parish be able to pay for its repair. Fortunately, because of its historical importance it was taken over by what was then called the Historical Churches Fund (it now has a more upmarket name! - The Redundant Churches Fund) and was restored to, and is maintained at its former glory without any cost falling on the parish. The church wardens remain responsible for the the churchyard however.
|
