An exciting opportunity to enhance the sustainability of a small rural parish church. Further details are on our website, which will be updated as the project develops. It is part of the Herefordshire Churches Tourism Group’s Virtuous Circles project, funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund, to design and develop overnight visitor accommodation within a church building, whilst retaining and sustaining the space for regular worship.

The Turnastone project is a national pilot, proposing the installation of a low-energy and reversible holiday accommodation unit in the nave at St. Mary’s. The project aims ultimately to generate revenue to safeguard the future upkeep of the historic fabric, and to encourage a wider spectrum of visitors to enjoy the benefits of peaceful time spent in this beautiful medieval building located in the heart of the "Golden Valley".

Through the design the project will include well-appointed overnight accommodation space, along with supporting facilities that will be shared by the congregation who worship at Turnastone, improving the comfort, convenience and continued enjoyment of the space for all. It proposes an innovative, low-energy and low-impact solution, introducing a complementary new use into a historic church in order to generate revenue, and take a positive step toward financial sustainability.

Design architects Connolly Wellingham were appointed in 2019. They have worked closely with a Steering Group that includes representatives of Vowchurch and Turnastone PCC, the Diocese of Hereford, Herefordshire Churches Tourism Group and the Churches Conservation Trust. Various design concepts have been discussed and outline proposals were agreed by the PCC in July 2020. We are currently awaiting the outcome of our full faculty application for the project, followed by a funding bid. The picture shows an architects' mock up of how it might appear looking back from the church nave.

Having completed the initial design, the predicted costs were much highter than expected and the project is, for the moment, on hold pending further decisions. Further information will be found on our website.