By Thom Kennedy Penrith reporter

Last updated at 15:47, Friday, 10 December 2010

A church which costs £150 an hour to heat has found a novel way of beating the cold – by putting up an indoor marquee for worshippers.

The marquee in St Andrews Church

St Andrew’s Church in Greystoke, near Penrith, is large for a village of its size, and as a result is difficult to heat and gets very cold in the winter.

Heating it costs £150 an hour, leading churchgoers to search for creative ways of keeping warm and comfortable. So this winter the rector will attempt to beat the cold by holding sermons in a marquee erected inside.

Church warden Hilary Dyer said: “St Andrew’s is notorious for being a huge, cold church. It has a real wow factor when people walk in because it’s vast and very historical, but heating it is an absolute nightmare.

“We weren’t able to get it up to an acceptable temperature for older people and those with young children, and as part of a vision of being welcoming and open we have to do that or people will never come again.

“We have worried about this for a year or two, but last winter when the temperature was terribly low was the final straw.

“This summer our rector was watching the World Cup in a marquee outside the Boot & Shoe pub in the village, and realised it could provide a cosy space in St Andrew’s.”

The marquee has been placed in the south wing, which was not being used and was big enough to accommodate smaller congregations for standard weekend services.

Because the remainder of the church is still open and is not affected by the marquee, bigger services, such as a carol service on Sunday December 12 can still be accommodated, and the whole church will be heated on these occasions.

Mrs Dyer added: “It doesn’t make it completely hot, but it cuts out the draughts because it has a roof. We have small heaters of the type you would use in your bedroom, which is all much cheaper than the church’s oil heating system.

“We can seat about 35 to 40 people. Our congregation has had mixed feelings. At first we asked a lot of people what they thought and some said you just need to put on extra layers for an hour, but it gets across the feeling that we want to be welcoming, and sometimes visitors are not adequately dressed.

“A lot of people have been won around by it, and it now looks rather nice.”

The marquee will be used for the next two winters, and will be taken down between April and October.

First published at 14:18, Friday, 10 December 2010
Published by http://www.cumberlandnews.co.uk