A CHURCH which had thousands of pounds of damage caused to its roof when it was targeted by a gang of thieves last year has started work to repair it.
St Martin's Church in Cheselbourne near Dorchester had £60,000 worth of lead stolen stolen from its roof on March 16, 2020.
The theft rocked the quiet village when the gang struck during the start of the pandemic, but the community has banded together and managed to raise the huge sum of money needed to start the repair project.
A gang of four men from Romania who targeted 36 churches across England - including St Martin's - and costing churches around the country a total of £2.1million were subsequently arrested and jailed for a combined total of more than 20 years.
The night-time attacks also took place in Somerset, Lincolnshire, Cambridgeshire, Yorkshire, Somerset, Wiltshire, Suffolk, Leicestershire and Derbyshire. Tonnes of lead from Grade I and Grade II listed churches were stripped between May 2018 and March 2020.
The four men pleaded guilty to the offences and were sentenced at Lincoln Crown Court on January 6, 2021.
Constantin Motescu, 32, of Stebbings, Sutton Hill, Telford, admitted 23 charges of theft and was jailed for six and a half years, Paul Buica, 25, of George Street, Birmingham, pleaded guilty to 16 thefts and was sent down for six years; Laurentiu Sucea, 38, of George Street, Birmingham, admitted 13 thefts and was imprisoned for six and a half years, and Mihai Birtu, 24, of Port Street, Evesham, admitted 14 thefts and received three years and seven months.
Ian Bywater from the Friends of St Martin's group said: "Through the fundraising by the PCC and local community and with the architects Benjamin + Beauchamp's support, the south aisle of St Martin’s Church has now been re-roofed by Mike White Ltd.
"Gone is the blue tarpaulin that has offered some protection over the last 18 months, and now we have the new stainless-steel roof that should be of less interest to thieves, while making the south aisle watertight, while looking in keeping with the appearance of traditional lead.
"This is a huge achievement for a village the size of Cheselbourne and it’s impossible to thank everyone, but special thanks go to the grants from: National Churches Trust, Dorset Historic Churches Trust, The Erskine Mouton Trust Fund, Allchurches Trust Ltd. Special thanks also go to St Martin’s Church warden Nina Shaw Porter for all her work to secure these grants with the help of the PCC, and also to Marilyn and Jeremy Smith for their Easter and Halloween Trails that helped raise the profile, and helped raise the spirits of the village coming out of a tough year."
The blue tarpaulin on the north aisle roof remains on the church. Repairs to that section are on hold until April 2022 due to winter bat movement. The community church group hope that by April 2022 the finances will be in place to not only repair the north aisle roof, but also the work to repair the internal damage that the lack of a roof caused.
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