A LISTED church has finally reopened after eight months of repair works.
St Mary’s in Mundon is back open following the structural work which cost just under £345,000.
The charity which owns the church, Friends of Friendless Churches, was awarded a grant of £275,551 from the Government’s Culture Recovery Fund, which was administered by Historic England.
The charity was set up in 1957 and works to save disused places of worship which are of architectural and historical interest from demolition, decay, and unsympathetic conversion in England and Wales.
During the repairs in Mundon, underpinning was carried out as well as a new effective drainage system installed, repointing, grouting, plasterwork and rendering.
The wall paintings were also conserved during the process.
A spokesperson from Friends of Friendless Churches said: “The church at Mundon is built on the edge of a salt marsh.
“It’s been sinking and swaying and cracking for decades.
READ MORE>>> In pictures: Thousands raised at classic car fun day for historic hall restoration
“In 2020, we installed monitors to collect data on the structural movement.
“Data collected over 18 months helped us to understand how, why, and when the church moved and enabled the engineer to design the underpinning system to stop this movement and make the church safe.
“Without significant grant aid, we would have struggled to fund this extensive – and expensive – repair.”
The church is inviting everyone to come along as they hold an Evensong at 5pm on Sunday, September 11.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here