Ludlow church pays off its last bill for repairs

The last instalment of the money for years of work on the cathedral-sized parish church was paid after a final grant came in.

Work took place on the pinnacles and other high-up masonry and included an overhaul of the roof. It is a major milestone for the church, which has spent £825,000 on renovations over the past five years. Another £300,000 is scheduled to be spent in the next two years.

The roof and high masonry work was labelled "target two" of the ongoing Vision Project to both conserve and modernise the medieval building. Jim Hooper, church warden, said: "That target is now completely finished, that last tranche of money has completed everything."

"The last cheque of £7,500 has been given by the Shropshire Historic Church Trust, for which the church is very grateful.

"They have been very good to us and we have written to thank them - they do very good work in keeping all of these old churches going."

Old pinnacles and stonework from the top of St Laurence's were auctioned off this time last year to help raise the money, which has also come in through donations via the Ludlow Palmers, formerly the The Conservation Trust for St Laurence, an independent body set up specifically to help conserve the church.