St Aloysius’ Church Glasgow Campanile, Heritage Lottery Fund Scottish building news, HLF Architecture grant

St Aloysius’ Church Bell Tower

Campanile in the west of Scotland design by Mosaic Architecture + Design, UK

5 Apr 2019

St Aloysius’ Church Campanile

image courtesy of Mosaic Architecture + Design

St Aloysius’ Church Building Bell Tower

On behalf of the Archdiocese of Glasgow, Mosaic Architecture + Design, one of Scotland’s most experienced practices, has secured a grant of £93,400 from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) for urgent masonry work and external fabric repairs to the iconic bell tower at St Aloysius’ Church, Glasgow known as the ‘Campanile’.

The grant, added to a £140,000 grant awarded by Historic Environment Scotland, enables Mosaic to engage a contractor to start work on the £400,000 project, which starts in April and is scheduled for completion in six months.

Stephen Mallon, Director of Mosaic, said: “We are delighted to receive this support from the HLF to enable us to carry out urgent external repairs to the iconic St Aloysius’ Church Campanile.

“There is always a degree of uncertainty and anticipation when relying on lottery funding for projects and there was a great effort made by the full design team, including PDA and Armours, not to mention the whole client team who fully engaged in the process and the commitment to delivering the interpretation plan and community benefits of the scheme.

“The success of the submission is testament to everyone involved and we look forward now to the implementation and delivery phase of this exciting project.”

St Aloysius’ Church is a city centre Jesuit Catholic Church serving the Catholics in Glasgow, the West of Scotland and beyond. Built in 1910 to a design by Belgian architect Charles Menart, its marble clad interior was the work of the Austrian architect Ernest Schaufelberg, and was not completed until 1927, some time after the consecration of the church.

In 2004, restoration work was carried out at St Aloysius’, which has been described as ‘probably the most beautiful Catholic church in Glasgow.’ It is built in the Renaissance style of the seventeenth century, after the Cathedral of Namur, Belgium.

Fr Dermot Preston SJ, Parish Priest at St Aloysius’ Church commented: “We are delighted at the news of this grant award which will mean we can at last make the building water-tight and maintain the church-tower as an important heritage landmark on the skyline of central Glasgow.

“The parish community has raised over £100,000 for the Campanile through fundraising activities and personal donations, so with the generous grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund, we hope to focus our next stage of fund-raising on the interior decoration and lighting within the Church. This award is a wonderful culmination to a lot of hard work by many people in the Church community for which I am very grateful.”

Ríona McMorrow, Acting Head of The National Lottery Heritage Fund Scotland, said: “Scotland’s historic and diverse places of worship are at the heart of our communities. Thanks to National Lottery players, The National Lottery Heritage Fund funds structural repairs and improves facilities and visitor information. St Aloysius Church is an excellent example of how the Fund can help conserve a much loved building so it can continue to serve its local community.”

St Aloysius Church

photograph © AJW