Easton-in-Gordano Heritage Lottery Fund

A CAMPAIGN to restore a crumbling church tower in Easton-in-Gordano has been handed a cash grant.

English Heritage and the Heritage Lottery Fund have allocated £124,000 towards the project to restore the 14th century tower at St George's Church.

Nerys Watts, left, head of Heritage Lottery Fund South West with Rector of St George's church, Easton in Gordano, Ruth Legg inside the church which is raising funds to repair the tower
St George's church at Easton-in-Gordano which needs repair to stone work on the tower.

The 65-strong congregation has been working on the scheme – expected to cost in the region of £212,000 – for the last year.

Worshippers have already raised around £10,000 for the project as a result of coffee mornings and sponsored bell ringing events.

The tower, built out of pink sandstone, is currently in a poor state of repair and in June 2008 a large piece of masonry was dislodged from the north face and fell through the roof of the shed below.

Architects were brought in to inspect the structure and revealed it needed to be re-pointed, some of the stone work and carvings repaired and work carried out on the parapet.

The first phase of the project, which will see structural engineers and architects assess the damage and draw up detailed repair plans, is due to take place over the coming months.

A £19,000 slice of the funding has now been released and will be used to fund the surveys.

The church also has the task of raising the remaining £80,000 needed by the end of December to secure the remaining £105,000 for the project.

Over the years the Grade II listed church has been rebuilt a number of times but the tower – which records show date backs to 1239 – has remained largely untouched.

If the cash is raised, it is hoped work on repairing the tower will start early in 2012.

Churchwarden Bob Mortlock said: ""To receive this money is a real boost and without it we would not have been able to start the work."

The church is one of only two community buildings in the small village – with the other being the church hall. Grant applications have now been submitted to other funding bodies in an attempt to raise the rest of the cash needed.

Easton-in Gordano vicar Reverend Ruth Legg said: "Our wonderful congregation contributes to the housekeeping costs of the church, but alone cannot tackle raising the money for a large project such as this.

"The fact we have received this funding gives us a great start and has turned a project which was once only a dream into a reality.