AN appeal has been launched to help fund essential works to strengthen a Forest village’s church tower.

All Saints Church in Longhope has this week started an "adopt an anchor" to help close a £90,000 funding gap.

Some 60 metres (320ft) of anchor rod needs to be installed to strengthen the 800-year-old tower.

It is several years since the bells were last rung because of the weakness of the tower.

Among the other repairs that need to carried out are rebuilding small turrets called pinnacles and the heavy stone louvre windows, replacing of cracked quoins or cornerstones and several other badly weathered stones and replacing large areas of cement mortar with lime.

An anchor is a stainless steel rod which is installed by drilling a large diameter hole in the centre of the tower wall, from one side to the other, inserting the rod, and then filling the hole with grout under high pressure.

Once the grout is set it bonds the stone to the rod, strengthening the wall.

The overall cost of the works is £165,000 and £65,000 has come from legacies.

The Friends of Longhope Church have a fund-raising target of £10,000, leaving a gap of £90,000.

The appeal aims to raise £18,000, equivalent to £300 per metre of rod.

Appeal organisers are also applying for grants and say the adopt-an-anchor scheme will demonstrate to funding bodies that local people are serious about the project.

The 18th century bells and bell frames are in good condition but the weakness of the tower means they cannot be rung.

Architects and structural engineers carrid out a detailed survey in July 2020.

They subsequently reported that the bells should not be rung until the tower had been strengthened.

Vicar of Longhope Rev Lara Bloom said: "There is something wonderfully British about the sound of church bells ringing out from a country village church whether summoning worshippers to church on a Sunday morning or heralding a life event such as a wedding or a funeral.

"My favourite though is the sound of the bells at midnight on Christmas Eve heralding the birth of the Christ child.

"There are about 5,000 churches with bell ringers in Britain and almost everyone lives within hearing range of one of them. Or at least they did. Unfortunately, the bells at All Saints Longhope have been silent for some time now."

There is a fundraising page at www.justgiving.com/longhopeadoptananchor.

Donation envelopes are also available at the church and Central Stores in the village.

Bank transfers can be made by using the sort code 60-09-02 and account number 36784079 with the reference Tower and your name.