A historic Walthamstow church has been saved from ruin by a grant worth more than £34,000 from the Heritage Lottery Fund.

St Saviour’s Church, in Markhouse Road, has been awarded £34,600 for its “Recovering the Splendour of St Saviour’s” project, in order to carry out urgent repairs on its roof.

The work will allow the Grade II listed church, the only surviving example of a Gothic Revival church in Walthamstow, to be taken off the Heritage at Risk Register.

Cash will also be used to improve disabled facilities at the 140-year-old building, before the project applies for a full £230,900 grant at a later date.

Sandra Sherman-Ceesay, project manager at St Saviour’s, said: “We are delighted that the Heritage Lottery Fund has given us this support.

“St Saviour’s is an important building to us and our community but has been suffering with water damage and inadequate toilet facilities and disabled access.

East London and West Essex Guardian Series:

St Saviour's is more than 140 years old

“The HLF funding will not only enable us to address these items but also reach out and engage with more people in our community.”

St Saviour's Walthamstow is an Anglican Parish Church in the Diocese of Chelmsford.

As well as being used for church purposes, it is also home to a number of other communities groups and activities.

Stuart Hobley, head of HLF London, said: “It’s fantastic that National Lottery players’ money can not only fund urgent repairs to St Saviour’s Church, but also help to involve more people in its unique local heritage.

“The church has come up with a great selection of activities to engage their community and we’re looking forward to working with them on the next stage of the application".