A conjuring curate who used to preach in one of Shropshire’s finest churches has swopped his vicar’s robes for a magician’s cape.

The Reverend Mark Townsend is hoping to follow in the footsteps of world-famous mind-reader and television star magician Derren Brown.

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Watch the conjuring curate in action here

He has already secured bookings for his two-hour magic show at venues as far north as Yorkshire and as far south as London.

And his work has won plaudits from his local MP, fellow magicians, poets and newspaper critics.

Mr Townsend started preaching at Ludlow’s St Laurence’s Church, which is rated as one of England’s 20 finest churches, during the mid-1990s.

He later moved to Leominster, where he became the team leader of his local parish, preaching to parishioners in local churches for around seven years.

However, he has now left the Church so that he can share his magic with local residents and audiences further afield.

Mr Townsend, 40, said: “I thoroughly enjoyed life in the Church. The people at Ludlow were especially good to me. But now I work as a magician and mind reader.

“I’ve always enjoyed magic, from the age of about eight. When I used to preach, I’d do small tricks for the parishioners to make the sermons more exciting.”

Mr Townsend said he had met some opposition from people in the Church but most had been supportive.

He added: “One or two people were against it. But the vast majority realise that I am trying to help people through my conjuring. I am trying to bring a bit of light into people’s lives.”

Leominster MP Bill Wiggin, the Shadow Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries, said: “Mark Townsend has wonderful gifts – with his charm, magic and spiritual understanding, any performance by Mark is uplifting.”

Further details are available at www.magicofsoul.com

By Andy Richardson