On the outside, St Mary de Crypt in Southgate Street looks like a pretty, but not extraordinary, church building. But, like many historic buildings in Gloucester, it can tell a lot of stories!

In 1539, The Crypt School – now at Podsmead – was established by John and Joan Cooke in the schoolroom adjacent to the church. As Gloucester’s oldest free school, many tens of thousands of pupils have passed through its doors over the centuries including an Archbishop of Canterbury, a Question Time presenter, a revered poet and at least one City Council Leader (me!).

George Whitefield, the famed evangelist who helped to spread the Great Awakening across America, preached his first sermon from the pulpit here (and the pulpit is still being used). Robert Raikes, founder of the Sunday School movement, was baptised here, as was Whitefield – and the font used for that is still in place. In St Mary de Crypt there is the Raikes Chapel containing the Raikes family vault.

Jemmy Wood, the Gloucester miser who, legend has it, was the inspiration for Dicken’s character of Ebeneezer Scrooge, is buried here.

During the Siege of Gloucester, St Mary de Crypt was used as an ammunition store – and the church walls still bear the scars of the odd skirmish here and there.

Making the most of the buildings
The church saw its congregation fall away as city centre living went out of fashion in past decades (although that is now changing), so a new purpose for the church was needed. The Discover DeCrypt charity was established to find a way of securing its future. Major restoration and refurbishment works are finally underway as part of a £2 million scheme supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund, City Council and others. The plan is to make the most of the buildings as a community hub, a cultural venue and educational resource, as well as a place of worship. The projected opening date is March 2019. For more information, visit www.discoverdecrypt.org.uk.

As always with Heritage Lottery funded schemes there is the need to raise match funding. The project team, led by Canon Nikki Arthy, has done a remarkable job in coming up with most of the required cash, but there remains a small but critical gap of £80,000. All donations of any size are welcome. You can donate via the website, or at any of the special events running during 2018 such as the monthly ‘Hard Hat Tours.’

So the next time you walk past St Mary de Crypt, just think about all the amazing stories this beautiful, but in some ways unremarkable, building can tell. And if you want to see it thrive in its new purpose, even the most modest of donations can make a real difference.