AFTER close to a four-year fight to get funding for the project, work has started on repairing the crumbling stonework of Selborne’s 800-year-old parish church.

“The work,” said parochial church chairman Richard Irwin, “is going very well and you can see the contrast with the newly-restored stonework, including around the church porch, and the rest that is still to be done.”

The saving of the precious fabric of the Saxon-dated church is a personal triumph for the parochial church council, who took the first steps toward a Heritage Lottery grant.

Mr Irwin, assisted by his wife Dr Rosemary Irwin, carried out the paperwork to submit an application for the Lottery funding, and he said at the time: “The first part was successful thanks to the support and help from parochial church members Stewart Tate and Robert Uypdegraff.”

When £16,000 came through – part of the grant they asked for – it was on condition it was matched by the church council and the village rallied to help them make up the money with donations and fundraising events. One big funding boost came via an auction of promises.

The £16,000 was needed to pay for the development preparations, basically how they were going to do the repairs, as well as produce surveys on the bat population, if any, and report on the structure of the building, plus make alterations to the entrance to the tower, put out tenders for the work, and confirm the appointment of architect Simon Cox.

When their plan was accepted, the Lottery Commission agreed the rest of the grant, in all £100,000, giving the go ahead for the repairs and renovations to get under way. It is also hoped to digitise the church records, which at present can only be viewed at Winchester, and improve the heating.

Work began last week on the exterior of the building, which should guarantee St Mary’s Church will be there for it parishioners for decades to come.

Explaining the project last year, Mr Irwin said: “The church isn’t in danger of falling down but it is a Grade I Listed building and as such we have to make sure it is preserved.

“We are simply carrying out good housekeeping in looking after the church and this is very much a community project.”