THE pandemic may be on the retreat but the bells won’t be ringing at St Mary’s Church in Studley for some time yet.
Damage has been discovered to the ‘merlons’ or crenellated parapet of the church tower forcing its closure and resulting in it being blanketed in scaffolding while repairs are carried out.
“We’re hoping it will all be completed by the end of the year but depending on the work that needs to be done it could be quite a bit longer,” said Curate Dan Porlett.
A fund-raising campaign has already started to help pay for the repairs.
“It’s a very old building – people think that because it’s a fixed historic building it will simply just carry on but there are always repairs that need to be done,” said Dan.
“We are hoping we can do it all within £15 to 20,000 but as with everything in the church it could be a lot more.
“Everyone thinks that because we’re part of the Church of England it will pay for repairs but the fact is we are reliant on church members and our local community, and it’s a relatively small number of people who maintain the church.”
The church is expecting a £5,000 grant but the remaining £10 to 15k must be met by members of the church and donations from the public.
To contribute to the restoration fund and to find out more visit https://www.ardenmarches.co.uk/tower/.
