SOS SAVE OUR SPIRE SOS

SOS MISSION 

The Church of St Peter and St Paul’s in Birch, Essex, with its particularly visible spire for miles around, is the icon of the village of Birch.  The spire has been described as a ‘silent finger pointing to heaven’ by eminent church historian Nikolaus Pevsner and is the first image appearing on a Google search for Birch.  Its prominent visibility holds emotional value not just for the people of Birch, but also for those from other surrounding villages.

Following its closure, in 1990, the building has fallen into disrepair.  It is now threatened with imminent demolition by Chelmsford Diocese, as soon as April 2024, should an alternative use not be found.

SOS Save Our Spire is a working group of local people trying to save our church (or minimally it’s spire) from destruction.  Our two initial goals of 1) obtaining a stay of execution on the church demolition (originally September 2023) and 2) obtaining dialogue with the Church Commissioners have now been met.  We are now working with Chelmsford Diocese and the Church Commissioners to come up with a plan to minimally save the spire and possibly some of the church attached to it.  Please do look at the other pages on this site to see our work to date, our press coverage, the local feeling on the proposed demolition and, most importantly, how you might be able to help. 

Thank you for taking the time to visit our site.