A HISTORIC 184-year-old church is being returned to its ‘glorious best’ after almost four months of refurbishment.

Work at St Mary’s Church, in Mellor, started in May and covered the chancel interior, exterior, vestry, and the boiler house, after the discovery of dry and wet rot.

Members of the 70-strong congregation set themselves a target of £50,000 to cover the costs when the work began, and have so far raised almost £30,000.

Amma Sue Williams said: “It has been a real community project, and members of the congregation have been tremendously generous with their time, and money.

“The work has been absolutely worth it because this church is at the heart of the village.

“We still have a long way to go, but everyone has done an amazing job to raise this much so far.”

Churchwarden Jim Saunders, 64, said: “We still have a long way to go in terms of fundraising, but everyone is glad that the major work on the church has now finished The inside looks so much better now that the scaffolding has been taken down and it will soon be back to its glorious best.

“The final step will be for the church to be repainted, which will hopefully happen some time next year, but we will need to fundraise on top of the initial £50,000 to get that completed.

“It’s work that has taken around 12 weeks to finish and it’s obviously costing a lot, but it’s worth it for the future preservation of the building.”

Joan Moss, 67, who has been a member of the church for 46 years, said: “It was a great relief when the scaffolding came down and the church almost looks back to normal now.

“You could never get the place clean while the work was going on, but it has all been worth it. It’s amazing how everyone has pulled together for this project, and we are all looking forward to when the church is repainted next year.”