Window of opportunity at church

A £20,000 appeal has been launched to carry out renovation work needed to save its Victorian East window which is a focal point of the 14th century church.

Holes and cracks are appearing every month caused by the corrosion of iron bars holding together its 14 glass panels.

The rust and corrosion is expanding and splitting the surrounding stonework and cement casing, which in turn is splitting the glass.

An amazing 4,100 visitors turned out in support of an annual flower festival held at the church recently which has raised £2,500 towards the appeal. Last year's festival raised £2,200.

Next month a diocesan advisory panel will decide on plans to renovate the window. The plan is to replace the iron bars with bronze which will not rust and replace stone work.

The window was installed by the Victorians in place of a Saxon window and unfortunately the cement used to hold together the surrounding wall is so hard that more of the glass is expected to break when renovation work is carried out.

Clive Cherrett, fabric and fittings officer for the church, said: "A lot of wind is coming in during south east gales because of cracked glass and pieces missing.

"Cold from the south east winds also comes in because it's such an enormous window. The second stage we have to think about is whether we can get it double-glazed to try and stop the excess heat that goes through the window.

"It's got to the stage now where every month something has happened - some glass has cracked and there are more spaces in the window. There are now a considerable number of holes."

Parts of the church dates back to the fourteenth century and it has the country's only 12th century lead font.

The church is also renowned for the work of a past rector, Reverend John Hutchings, who compiled the highly respected Antiquities of Dorset in the 1700s which was reprinted in the 1980s.

Anyone wishing to make a donation to the appeal can contact the church information centre on 01929 550905.