AN array of activities will culminate in the establishment of a “virtual museum”, which is planned to coincide with major repairs to a grade I-listed church.
Officers at St Mary’s Church have landed a £400,000 grant to fix a wall that is possibly being pulled apart by the bell tower. A portion of the cash is being spent on community projects aimed at getting more people involved in the history, heritage and culture associated with the building.
St Mary’s vicar, Revd Canon Alec Harding, has teamed up with archaeological group DigVentures to run workshops that will provide people with a range of skills.
Johanna Ungemach, of DigVentures, said these include a three-day workshop on photogrammetry, which uses computer software to stich a series of photographs together to create a three-dimensional image of an object. The aim is to use these images to create a virtual museum on St Mary’s website. Ms Ungemach said: “All the important and interesting items in the church will be captured, such as the Richard III carving.”
Also of interest are a number of grave slabs, including a medieval one that has a design that is seen nowhere else in the country, and a cheese press stone that has been recycled as a gravestone.
Items from The Bowes Museum and the castle that are relevant to the church will also be captured. Another workshop being planned which teach people how to sketch and analyse medieval grave slabs. Ms Ungemach said the aim is to put on activities to appeal to a broad spectrum of people. She added: “We want to get a lot of people involved and give them an opportunity to see the church in a new light – there is a lot more to the church than what you see when you first walk through the door.”
Mr Harding added: “One of the targets [of the project] is the number of people involved, which is quite ambitious. We are looking at thousands and thousands of people being touched by the project.”
Along with the workshops, a series of monthly talks will be held at the church.
Some will centre around the importance of the church in the development of the town because until the 1800s it was the primary public building with a variety of community uses, Ms Ungemach said. Mr Harding said all the necessary permissions have been granted for repairs to take place and work is expected to begin in April. Anyone interested in attending the photogrammetry workshop, which runs from Wednesday, February 5, to Friday, February 6, can contact Ms Ungemach at
johanna@digventures.com.
