The council's £291,000 clean, repair and lighting of St Andrew's Church in Rugby is done, seven months after its planned finish. What was done and what's next.
Work to clean, repair and light St Andrew’s Church in Rugby town centre is finished. The borough council paid for it, and its own papers put the bill at £291,000.
The council announced the completion on 29 September. A Choral Evensong and reception at the church on Sunday 27 September marked the end of the project. The Deputy Mayor, Cllr Neil Sandison, attended for the borough.
The release does not mention the cost. The figure is in the report that went to Cabinet on 15 September 2025, which Full Council approved nine days later.
What was done
According to the council, the work included:
- cleaning the stonework facing Church Street and Church Walk
- repairing damaged stone, including the cross above the north porch
- swapping the plastic window guards for black steel ones, so the stained glass can be seen from the street again
- repairing and repainting the cast-iron rainwater pipes
- cleaning and repairing the stone pillars and railings
- new lighting to show off the building after dark
The Cabinet report adds some detail. The cleaning covered the north porch, the lower north wall and part of the tower, plus about 220 square metres of the east side facing Church Walk. It was never meant to clean the whole church. The report says the council looked at cleaning entire elevations, but the scaffolding for a building that tall was “beyond the affordability of the Council to fund alone”.
St Andrew’s is Grade II* listed. Historic England’s entry describes a parish church “retaining a significant proportion of C14 fabric”, largely rebuilt from 1877 by William Butterfield, with additions of 1895 to 1896 by Ewan Christian to Butterfield’s design. The church’s own history page says the medieval west tower is Rugby’s oldest building and the east tower’s spire rises 182 feet.
Where the £291,000 went
The money came from the council’s Town Centre Strategy Reserve, the pot it set aside for regenerating the town centre. The Cabinet report split it into £210,000 of revenue spending and £81,000 of capital.
The biggest single line was not the stonework. It was £68,000 for site set up. The report also budgeted:
- £56,000 for stone repairs and cleaning
- £50,000 for redecoration, painting and repairs
- £46,000 to make and install the new lighting
- £28,000 of VAT the council cannot recover (£8,000 capital and £20,000 revenue)
- £21,000 in architect fees (£6,000 capital and £15,000 revenue)
- £14,000 to replace the window guards
- £7,000 for a bat survey, reports and permissions for the lighting
- £1,000 for a new gully grate
These are the planned figures. The council has not published what the work finally cost.
The report says the church had no money to contribute, so the council covered it in full. The payment was to be made under a funding agreement with the Friends of St Andrew’s Church.
Seven months late
The Cabinet report set out this timetable:
| Stage | Planned |
|---|---|
| Faculty and planning permission | September to October 2025 |
| Work starts | November 2025 |
| Work complete | February 2026 |
Completion was marked at the end of September 2026, about seven months after the planned finish. The council’s release does not say why it took longer.
Why the council paid
The report makes the case in terms of the town centre, not the church. It says the works would make the church “a visually attractive focal point”, make the area around it “feel safer and more attractive to use”, and bring people into the centre and keep them there longer. The council’s Public Realm Masterplan names St Andrew’s as one of four “feature areas” for architectural lighting.
The council’s leader, Cllr Louise Robinson, said in the completion release that the church “brings visitors into the town” and that improving public spaces “contributes towards town centre regeneration”.
The Rector of Rugby, the Revd Canon Edmund Newey, thanked the council and the Friends of St Andrew’s. He said the church wanted to open up to “more community and cultural events”.
Not everyone agreed with the spending. At the Full Council meeting on 24 September 2025, a member asked for a separate vote on the St Andrew’s item, and the Mayor declared it carried. The minutes record four councillors declaring non-pecuniary interests in it, among them a trustee of the church and a member of the Friends of St Andrew’s. An online petition calling on the council to reverse the spend had 185 signatures on 30 September 2026.
What comes next
This is the first of three phases. The Cabinet report says the council “is committed to supporting Phase 1” but has made “no commitment… at this time to fund further phases”. The church is looking for money from elsewhere for those. Neither the report nor the release says what phases two and three would include or cost.
The council’s ten-year town centre plan also names a development parcel it calls St Andrew’s Quarter. We covered that plan when it was adopted in August.
What it means for you
- See it after dark. The new lighting is the most visible change. Church Street and Church Walk are the sides that were cleaned.
- The church is open to visitors. It hosts free Tuesday lunchtime concerts at 1pm, lasting 30 to 40 minutes, with a donation plate. The church’s concerts page lists November’s programme.
- More town centre work is coming. New seating and planting “look set to start within weeks”, the council said on 1 September. Our roadworks and travel page tracks anything that closes a street.
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