The hidden farmyard church and fight to save it

Parishioners are rallying round in a bid to save a 19th Century church nestled in an East Yorkshire farmyard.

St Mary's Church at Cowlam can only be accessed by traipsing through a large working farm - and its insurance is paid by the 27 homes that make up the parish of Cottam.

Farmer Diann Atkin, whose family have been tenant farmers on the land for several generations, now spends "half her time" fundraising to keep the church open.

"Back in 2017, there was a vote taken to close it. And we said no, because I'm sure that we can get it back to good order again," she explained.

The church was initially built around the 12th Century, when it served a large village.

Diann believes it had been in disrepair and "fallen down in a storm" before it was rebuilt in the 1850s by Sir Tatton Sykes, to become the first of the so-called Sykes churches rebuilt in the region.

The farm then grew around the church, with buildings added throughout the years.

Diann said: "The buildings around the side of it were all built by my family, so the farm has been built around the church.

"Possibly to save it, really."

It is also home to an unusually carved Norman font, which brings visitors to the church.

The church still serves its parishioners, holding occasional weddings and baptisms, as well as a regular church service - a 30-minute prayer service on the fourth Tuesday of every month.

However, to stay open the church is in need of significant repair.

It needs a new roof to the cost of £100,000 and stained glass window repairs costing £40,000.

Diann estimates the church needs approximately £400,000 spending on it before it is fully restored.

Asked why she thinks the church deserves saving, she said: "I find it such a special place and it's been here for me whenever I've felt lonely and lost.

"I've come and sat in here and it has a presence and a lot of people feel that when they walk in. So, it's been my solace.

"I've lived here all my life and I would never like to see it have its roof taken off and become a ruin."

In order to fundraise, Diann began a small second-hand goods sale at the church in 2020, which has now grown into a weekly event in a large, well-stocked barn.

The twice-weekly sales, on a Wednesday and Saturday, raise about £1,000 a week for the restoration.

Diann said she splits her time equally between fundraising for the church and working on the farm, until it comes to harvest time.

She said it took "18 whole days" to empty and wash the barn before 200 tonnes of wheat could be stored in it, so this year they are changing their farming practices to continue fundraising.

By using a grain storage facility elsewhere, she said it would allow her and the volunteers to "just keep going and keep letting more customers in".

The fundraising sale's popularity has grown alongside a social media page, where the new goods are advertised.

Diane said: "There are 1,650 followers that have the same passion as what I do.

"And when they visit the church, they come and tell me that they experience the same feelings as what I do when I sit in there and, you know, find peace."

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