The Church of St Saviour in Redbrook is holding a masonry conservation workshop to help care for the church whilst keeping it open and accessible to the local community.

The church is located on a steep slope above the road which runs from Monmouth to Tintern beside the River Wye. It was built in 1872-3 and extended in 1887 to the design of J P Seddon and is listed Grade II.

The aim of the project is to help in caring for the church to ensure its doors can remain open, it shows that heritage can be a focus for a whole community, it has been sponsored by Redbrook village trust with proceeds from Live on the Wye music festival.

The workshop will be run over three days from September 9 until 11.

The project will be a starting point for long term increased engagement of the village with maintaining the fabric of their church building, which will find a sustainable way of retaining the buildings which would otherwise be at risk of closure.

It is aimed at keen amateurs as well as those involved in building and would like to develop better understanding of conservation principles and improve skills.

The trainers are all suitably qualified conservation masons, the project provides valuable training for them as they learn to talk about what they do and to share their skills.

Their aim must be to carry out urgent repairs to the building at minimal costs, the conservation of the masonry will provide the opportunity for the public to understand conservation issues and give opportunities for training.

Alongside practical work there will be talks and presentations on a very wide range of building conservation issues. They hope that these talks and presentations would be of interest to a wide audience and not just people participating in the workshop.

Their hope is for the project to demonstrate that heritage can be a focus for the community whilst using the masonry repair workshop as the catalyst for broader engagement.

With success from their previous workshop, they secured some grant assistance which helped cover part of the expenses. However, trainees are to pay between £60 and £200.

Most workshop participants will pay a fee, but they are able to offer some reduced fee or free place to local young people who would not otherwise be able to attend.

There will be a member of the congregation with suitable experience who will take on a supervisory role and prepare H and S and safeguarding plans. Safety equipment/ clothing will be required, with trainees expected to bring their own boots, gloves and boiler suits.

The churchyard has never been a burial ground and part of it is used by the school for growing flowers and vegetables and as a nature area.

As well as being a church which functions as a place of worship holding regular services, the local school makes use of the building but in the future, they hope it can be developed further to make it more accessible for people.