Almost half of listed churches have been targeted by criminals, new figures show, as police warn of professional gangs using the latest technology find easy targets and map out escape routes.

The epidemic of crime is dominated by metal thefts with entire roofs being removed from historic places of worship.

The crisis threatening the heritage of rural Britain is now so great that the heritage body Historic England estimates 40 per cent of listed churches have been targeted.

Evidence points to the thefts being highly organised by criminals who use modern technology, including drones, Google Earth and sat nav to first spot their targets through aerial footage and then plot their routes.

Dramatic weather patterns including storms and flooding have led to an growing bill to patch up England’s thousands of historic churches. 

Eddie Tulasiewicz, of the National Churches Trust, said the issue had been a particular problem during flooding in Cumbria during recent winters. 

In particular, rooves and wooden church fittings have been damaged by wet winters and hot, dry summers, leading emergency applications to the charity to reach their highest ever level. 

“It’s happening with lots of historic buildings – there has been flooding which has affected Cumbria quite badly, we had to bail out some churches there.”

In the summer, he said, it’s “very hot and dry, that affects wood.”

The number of applications for urgent repairs and maintenance funding to the charity rose by 44 per cent between 2013 and 2017, from 328 applications in 2013 to 473 in 2017. 

The figures suggest that church rooves and drainpipes are taking a battering from wet weather, with almost half of all applications during one period connected to roof repairs or gutters. 

During 2015 to 2018, 45 per cent of the 1,274 applications to the charity were for roof repairs, to repair gutters or to fix drainage.  

The figures come from the organisation’s report, which marks 200 years since the creation of the Incorporated Church Buildings Society, a Church of England drive to keep the country holy, which led to the founding of many Victorian churches. 

An impassioned plea has been issued to put churches at the heart of rural communities to save them from becoming modern day irrelevancies.

The Countryside Alliance has warned churches are in danger of fading away unless they become the thriving hubs they once were.

Executive chairman Sir Barney White-Spunner urged “all faiths” be encouraged to worship “in the same building”, which should also serve a wide variety of non-religious purposes.

Alison Hawes, Devon-based spokesman for the Countryside Alliance, said it made perfect sense.

“I think it is a jolly good idea,” she said.

“We have these buildings and they need upkeep and they need to earn their keep.

“As long as there is nothing too contentious, why not use them for other things.

“I know many rural villages are already used for a variety of purposes, such as concerts and meetings.

“It brings people in through the doors.”

This article tells how a joint study by economists at the University of East Anglia and the University of St Andrews looked into the effect that life expectancy has on whether – and when – people adopt a faith.

“In countries with low life expectancies people tend to embrace faith earlier in their lives, while people in the developed world often wait until thoughts of an afterlife become more relevant.

“Religious organisations should be prepared to accept and attract a ‘greying church’ with membership skewed towards the older generation,” said Dr Elissaios Papyrakis, one of the report’s authors.”

This makes me reflect on whether the higher proportion of older people in rural England accounts at least partly for its higher incidence of practicing worshipers. What are your views?