My friend Anthony Barnes, who has died aged 92, was an executive in the soft drinks and chemicals industry until he changed tack to become director of the Redundant Churches Fund, now the Churches Conservation Trust. Later he joined the Norfolk Churches Trust as its secretary, helping to care for and conserve a number of ecclesiastical buildings across the county.
Both with the Trust and later as a volunteer, Anthony rescued a number of Norfolk churches and prevented St Peter Hungate in Norwich from becoming a wine bar. He also wrote dozens of church guides. Although he was a devout Anglican, his work was driven by a fierce conviction that church buildings were as important for non-Christians as for those who attended every Sunday.
