A MAJOR project to reorder and add new features to a Salisbury church has been recognised with a special award.

St Thomas’s Church has been undergoing a transformation over the last few years, involving the conservation of the fabric of the building, and the reordering of the nave and side aisles.

Conserving the medieval Doom painting was a crucial part of the project, which dates from 1470.

During a closure last year, pews were removed and replaced with new seating, and the nave altar was made from 968 pieces of English oak.

The works on the 15th century Grade I building had not gone unnoticed, as the parish church won the Presidents’ Award at the 2021 UK Church Architecture Awards.

The Duke of Gloucester Prince Richard, vice patron of the National Churches Trust, presented the Presidents’ Award to the winners.

This was alongside a chalice and paten, commissioned by the Incorporated Church Building Society and made after the Second World War, and a £500 cheque.

The National Churches Trust and Ecclesiastical Architects and Surveyors Association, jointly running the awards, praised St Thomas’s for the building’s entrance, via the west doors, which has been enhanced with the construction of a fully glazed entrance lobby, providing “a light and airy welcome space”.

The church was also commended for the new nave sanctuary which features an altar of “highly contemporary design – a beautifully crafted yet simple shape – as a foil to the Perpendicular medieval space.”

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