A surprise visitor to Gloucester last month was Loyd Grossman of ‘Masterchef’ and ‘Through the Keyhole’ fame, who was visiting in his lesser-known role as Chairman of the Churches Conservation Trust. Loyd and his fellow trustees were on a two-day tour of some of the redundant churches the Trust owns. In Gloucester they wanted to see St Nicholas’s Church in Westgate Street and to hear about the plans by Artshape, a local charity helping people with disabilities access the arts, to bring it back into use – subject to support from the Heritage Lottery Fund.

It got me thinking about the wonderful historic church buildings we have in Gloucester and some of the plans we have to improve and make better use of them. St Mary de Crypt in Southgate Street is another example of a Heritage Lottery Fund supported project, to be converted into a Christian centre for children and young people – see www.discoverdecrypt.org.uk.

St Mary de Crypt is where the evangelist George Whitefield preached his first sermon, where Robert Raikes and Whitefield were baptised, and where Jemmy Wood (the misery banker and Britain’s first millionaire) is buried. The adjacent schoolroom is where the Crypt School was founded.

St Mary de Lode in Archdeacon Street is Gloucester’s oldest Parish Church. And St Michael’s Tower on The Cross (all that remains of the former St Michael’s Church) is now home to Gloucester Civic Trust.

The plans for Project Pilgrim at Gloucester Cathedral, including replacement of the parking area in front of the Cathedral with a new public square, again with Heritage Lottery Fund support, will enhance its setting and improve facilities for visitors.

Blackfriars Priory is now open all year round for events and functions, and there are ambitious plans to restore Llanthony Priory and to provide a new public square near the Greyfriars monument as part of the Linden Homes development.

So, whether they are religious or not, anyone who looks through the keyhole in Gloucester will see that our church buildings will play an important part in our future, just as they have in our past.