'Sewena' for St Torney's Church at the 2025 Cornish Building Group Awards!
© CCT
Sat on the edge of Bodmin Moor, Grade I listed St Torney’s Church came into the care of Churches Conservation Trust in 2022. Since, the church has undergone substantial conservation work, and during a wonderful a ceremony at The Renaissance of Rosewarne House on the 17th July, we were thrilled to find out the project had won a prestigious 2025 Cornish Building Group (CBG) Award.
The CBG Awards aim to promote projects which make a significant contribution to improving the built environment in Cornwall, while achieving a satisfactory solution to the aims and objectives of the client and their architect or designer.
Conservation Projects Manager, Meriel O'Dowd said;
In order to transform the church into a space loved and used by local community again, great care was taken to conserve the building in a sympathetic way, which included using heritage materials, such as Delabole slates. We would like to take this opportunity to thank some of the wonderful craftspeople who came together to make this award possible, including:
- Jonnie Starr of Specialist Stonemasonry of Penestraze
- Bob Tucker of Heritage Stained Glass
- Jethro Marsh of The Natural Plaster Company
- And Rob Gray of RH Carpentry
Local Community Officer, Marie Leverett has worked closely with the community and supporters at St Torney's, and is looking forward to a busy end to the summer;
The conservation work we have carried out at St Torney’s has given this incredible church a new lease of life and the church has already hosted several events and activities since opening in October 2024. Coming up soon on the 14th August we have a literary event based on the War of the Roses, with well-known author Annie Garthwaite, and on the 30th August we'll be welcoming the cast of Perseus and Andromeda. We are delighted that the local community are enjoying and embracing their newly restored church, and helping us to care for it.
If you are interested in volunteering or would like to find out more please contact the Local Community Officer, Marie Leverett, on mleverett@thecct.org.uk.
Date written: 17th July 2025