A CAMPAIGN to raise funds to carry out £250,000-worth of vital repairs to Malmesbury’s iconic 12th century abbey, will soon be underway.

The building is in dire need of repairs and requires a new top layer for the roof, which was last replaced 200 years ago.

After failing to secure government grants for the repairs, the team at the abbey are now looking to the community to help support the town’s spiritual home.

Diana Crowe, who has been church warden for the past five years, says the abbey, the centrepiece of the town, needs a number of important jobs done to it.

“The whole roof needs to be completely re-slated,” she said. “In order to do that, we need the money.

“You can see the abbey from wherever you are in the town.

“It’s been here for all these years, the whole town was built around it and it’s still the central place of worship for the Church of England in the town.

“It is used for concerts, and even skateboarding now, and we always try to make it a place of welcome.

“Lots of tourists come, partly because of the abbey, but also because of its gardens.”

The government grants previously applied for had a number of restrictions, which no longer apply, meaning the abbey is seeking to use the project to improve the building in as many areas as possible.

“Now we’re free of government restriction, we can add things like a lightning conductor and repair some of the timbers up there,” she said.

“The ‘hips’ at each end of the roof are covered in cement which is falling to pieces. There are weeds growing there.”

The team are aiming to launch the appeal in the New Year, and information on how to support it will be covered in the Standard.

They are looking first to the community for donations, including from businesses, and fundraising events will be held to support the campaign.

If money cannot be raised in time, grant bodies will then be contacted if necessary.

“Our congregation have very kindly pledged money towards it the plans when we were seeking government grants,” continued Diana.

“Now we have to go back to them to see if pledges will hold.”

If the money is not raised in full, the work will have to be done bit by bit, costing the abbey more in the long run.

“If we can’t afford to completely redo the roof we’ll have to do patch repairs, which were done twice last year,” said Diana.

“Each time we do that it costs and, over a period of time, more slates come off.”

A bat survey was recently done on the abbey, causing alarm among many residents who were shocked to see people on the roof with torches.

The results are currently being processed and changes will be made to the architect’s plans if necessary.

Malmesbury Town Council member Gavin Grant, said the abbey’s upkeep is “fundamental to the town”.

“The abbey is the reason the town is in existence in the first place,” he said.

“As we saw with our German friends from Bad Hersfeld who visited recently, the history of Malmesbury, anchored in the abbey, has echoes, not only around our country, but our continent.

“Having the abbey in good order is crucial to tourism in the town.”