As Michael Palin says, we should beware the threat to churches and their heritage

In villages across France you will find churches from the medieval age, or even earlier, that are still standing.

Many of the magnificent but sturdy old buildings date back almost 1,000 years.

Churches of that age are much rarer in Britain and rarer still on this island, on either side of the Irish border.

And yet, while our church heritage in Northern Ireland is more recent than in France and even than in England, places of worship are among our best architecture.

There are numerous beautiful churches still standing across the province from the 1700s and even more from the 1800s. Our finest buildings are often churches, because so much store was placed by them among local communities, and so much money was set aside for their construction.

In recent decades declining church attendances have led to many of these beautiful buildings closing, particularly in Belfast, and then struggling to find new owners or uses. Or even if they do stay open, dwindling congregations struggle to afford repairs and improvements.

The situation is if anything worse in England, where a smaller percentage of the population goes to a weekly Christian service than in NI.

Sir Michael Palin — the popular actor, comedian and traveller — is backing a campaign by the National Churches Trust to highlight the risks to these crucial parts of our built heritage and of our history.

He observes that churches are often adapting to the modern world and the needs of their communities, such as by offering foodbanks or by hosting youth clubs, but still many of them have to shut their doors.

Northern Ireland would be culturally much diminished if its churches were to close on a large scale.

Every time one of these fine buildings shuts or falls into disrepair, it is a loss not just to the parishioners but to the whole community.

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