CHURCH leaders are celebrating after work to preserve an historic building for another generation was completed...but are now being forced to raise another £20,000 to cover additional costs.

Urgent repair work was needed on the roof of St Botolph’s Church in Colchester after the Grade II listed tower began leaking.

A huge fundraising campaign helped collect £170,000 which it was thought would help pay for all the works needed, and expert engineers started the repair job in July.

But while they were working on the building, ancient rotten timbers were discovered which required immediate attention.

It would have been too dangerous not to fix the problem, so the decision was taken to delve into church reserves to foot the increased bill.

David Branson, who headed up fundraising for the project, said those at the church had no option other than commissioning the extra work.

Gazette:

 He said: “The good news is the tower is safe for another 50 years.

“We are delighted with that part.

“Part of the project was to rebuild the roof of the tower and it was found the ancient wooden beams were rotten and only being held up by friction and a lot of prayers.

“They all had to be replaced at the cost of £20,000 and we had to pay it from church reserves.

“If not, the whole thing would have been closed down on safety grounds.

“But now we have a hole in our reserves.”

The original fundraising came from events put on by the Friends of St Botolph’s Church, donations from individuals and businesses and grants, including £10,000 from the National Churches Trust and £15,000 apiece from the Friends of Essex Churches and the Garfield Weston Foundation.

Mr Branson said they would return to the same sources as before in a bid to raise cash.

He said: “The problem is a lot of charities and trusts won’t give money for work which has already been done.

“But we will have to go back to them for help.”

The current version of the building was completed in 1838 and work was needed to replace old lead on the roof, as well as to clear up birds’ mess which contains undigested seeds which have sprouted and leave the areas unable to flush with water, and caused a build up of muck and unwanted plants.

During the Second World War, in February 1944, a bomb destroyed the surrounding areas and the building was only saved by a team of volunteer fire watchers.

The church plays host to a music society and is considered one of the best concert venues in the area because of its outstanding acoustics.

For more information about the project and details on how individuals, businesses or charities can donate, visit stbotolphs.org.