IF you have any doubt about the importance of the Divine Light Appeal - to floodlight St John's Church - here's why you should put your hand in your pocket to help restore a piece of Preston's history.

The Parish Church of St John's the Divine was erected between 1853 and 1855, on the foundation of earlier buildings.

The church is a fine example of the revival of Gothic style, built of Longridge stone and with interior woodwork in pitch pine.

Public subscription foot the £9,500 construction bill, and a mammoth bazaar contributed more than £2,000 to the costs.

The building today is very much the same - the East window representing the crucifixion and scenes from Christ's Passion was a gift from Sir Henry Bold Hoghton.

The Nave and Clerestory windows were also a gift, from John Addison and his brother Thomas Batty Addison (Recorder of Preston).

Some changes have been made since the church was rebuilt. A vestry was added in 1887 and the organ was moved from the west gallery to where it is now. A modern window was installed in the south porch, in memory of Alderman Frederick Gray, Guild Mayor in 1972.

And in 1976, the church's north and south galleries were removed and the west end screened off to provide a church hall But the biggest changes to St John's, and its town centre neighbour St George's, are still on-going. Members of Parish Prospect Preston, the organisation behind the changes, have embarked on a multi-million pound refurbishment of the two churches - to turn them into 'centres of community life.'

Our Divine Light Appeal will help pay for the £35,000 cost of floodlighting St John's.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.