Reflecting the Past

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In April 1942, St Julian's Church tower was bombed, collapsing onto the rest of the building and reducing the building to rubble. Thanks to the tireless efforts of the rector and the sisters of the Community of All Hallows, in 1953 the church was rebuilt and ready for use, complete with a dedicated chapel on the site where Julian of Norwich lived and wrote over six centuries ago.

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In 2026, St Julian's is facing its greatest challenge since 1942. The fabric of the building is in urgent need of major repairs, with problems including cracked rafters, longstanding damp on the walls, the tower requiring significant repointing, and much more. If we do not act quickly, the building itself could become unsafe and we may be forced to close to the public.

 

Looking to the Future

 

In addition to the urgent works needed to make the building safe, additional works will be required to restore the building following the most urgent repairs. This includes new flooring, a re-landscaped churchyard to deal with damp, reliable heating, new plaster, and more. We also want to improve disability access to Julian's Cell, currently only accessed via a set of four steps.

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As we look to the future, we want to protect and preserve this historic site for future generations. We have an ambitious plan not only to repair and restore what is needed, but envisage a fully land​scaped garden, toilet access within St Julian's Church, with every part of the Shrine accessible for the first time.

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As part of our future planning, we want to improve the living conditions at All Hallows Guesthouse for our resident manager, providing a private, separate living space in a refurbished loft space, and opening up more bedrooms to expand our offering to guests and groups to ensure we can remain stable financially going forward. As part of our accessibility focus, we will renew the front garden outside the upper shrine with level access brick paving throughout. We intend to finish the works at the upper shrine with a beautifully traditional lychgate which will form the brand new entrance to the visitor centre and retreat house.

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Major Fundraising Required

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The Julian Shrine is a historic, internationally significant place of pilgrimage. But we are a small team, and to be honest we are daunted by the prospect of raising the funds we need to make all of this happen.

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We estimate the upper shrine works will cost £400,000. Of this, we have been generously offered up to half of this in match-funding, so we are aiming to raise another £200,000 to complete these works.

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Architectural drawings are being finalised for the works at St Julian's Church, but initial estimates suggest this may cost up to £600,000 - or more. 

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In total we are planning to raise almost £1million.

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How will we do this? We are appealing to members of the public, near and far, for donations towards this important work; we will be applying for every avenue of grant funding available; and we will continue exploring other creative ways to make this happen.

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If you would like to partner with us, donations toward our building project or our ongoing work are gratefully accepted. Click here to donate online. Or get in touch with any questions.