A NINE-hundred-year-old church at the heart of Witney has launched an appeal to raise more than £1m to pay for vital repairs and renovations.

St Mary’s Church, in Church Green, has not had any repair work on it for the past 150 years.

Current members of the church want to see it restored to its former glory, and have launched the largest fundraising drive in its history.

The aim is to raise £1.5m to carry out repairs to the lead roof, the floor inside the church, as well as a general spruce-up to make it a fitting place of worship for another 900 years.

David Exham, one of the people leading the campaign, said: “All buildings experience wear and tear and decay, and they require fresh life putting back into them.

“As the custodians of this ancient house of God, we knew that ours was the generation that must carry out a renewal and restoration yet again.

“The church is greatly used, not just by the regular weekly congregation, but also by the wider community.

“We estimate that each year somewhere around 6,000 or 7,000 people worship in this church.

“They do not always have as good an experience as we would like.”

Earlier this year, the church was one of six in the county to be given a share of a £500,000 grant from English Heritage and Heritage Lottery Fund money, to the tune of £75,000. This allowed for work to start on a section of the roof, so that the building can first be made watertight before starting on the inside.

Retired bishop Bill Down, the chairman of the appeal, admitted it was a “the most appaling time” to be asking for money from the public.

He added: “I’ve had to raise money for various projects over the years, and there is never a good time to ask.

“We are totally committed to raising the money, but it may take several years — in fact, I think, it probably will.

“But the money desperately needs to be raised.

“It is such an important church and building in the town and we really hope to see it restored.”

Work inside the church will see new flooring laid and underfloor heating installed.

There are also plans to incorporate smaller areas of worship and a performance space.

Mr Exham added:”We want the glories of the interior to be revealed in a way that is not the case at the moment.

“The ancient fabric should be interfered with as little as possible.

“It is part of the heritage that has been passed on to us and to Witney.”