Buckinghamshire Historic Churches Trust was founded in 1957 by the Lord Lieutenant, Sir Henry Aubrey-Fletcher and the Bishop of Buckingham, the Right Reverend Robert Milton Hay, who had collected the sum of one hundred pounds to be held and applied by them. By March 2007, 643 grants amounting to £894,000 has been made for the preservation, repair, maintenance and upkeep of the fabric of "any church, chapel or other building used for public worship for the time being whether belonging to or used by the Church of England or any other religious body".

One or more grants have been given to 240 churches and chapels in Buckinghamshire, all Christian but 36 not Church of England. Applicants are invited to complete a fairly simple form which is returned to the Hon. Secretary. Three times a year applicants are invited by a group of Trustees, the Inspection Committee, who then recommend the amounts of individual grants to a full meeting of the trustees who also meet three times a year.