Who we are
The Churches Conservation Trust is the national charity protecting churches at risk. We care for the churches vested in us by the Church Commissioners of the Church of England, repairing the damage from sometimes years of neglect, and work with local communities to bring them alive again.
Holy Trinity Church - Sunderland's first parish church
© Mike Veitch
We have saved over 350 buildings which attract almost 2 million visitors a year. Our unique collection of English churches includes irreplaceable examples of architecture, archaeology and art from 1,000 years of history. With our help and with your support they are kept open and in use – living once again at the heart of their communities.
We operate the third largest heritage estate in charitable ownership in the UK. All of the churches in our collection are listed, mostly Grade I and II*, and some are Scheduled Ancient Monuments.
Without our care and your support, the buildings we look after might have disappeared completely. Instead they are enjoyed as cultural, social, tourism and educational resources, kept open, in use and living once again in the heart of communities. Our churches remain consecrated and can be used for occasional worship.
What we do
Based in the former Holy Trinity Church, Sunderland’s first parish church, Seventeen Nineteen has hundreds of stories to tell - reaching all the way back to the birth of Sunderland itself.
