A HISTORIC church in Wytham village is set to undergo a £113,000 makeover that could all be finished by Christmas after years of fundraising.

All Saints’ Church was built in 1812 for the 5th Earl of Abingdon but parts of it came from the medieval Cumnor Place, demolished in 1810.

The roof has been in dire need of repair for years and was added to English Heritage’s ‘At Risk’ register in 2014.

Churchwarden David Humphrey said: “It’s a right recycled piece of work.

“The tiles are more than 250 years old and we get a steady shower of them off the roof. We have reason to believe the battens are rotten.

“Some of the oak beams have been replaced but others date back to well before 1812. A violent gale could find us without a roof.”

Work to replace the tiles is due to start on September 1 and is expected to take about three months.

Original slate tiles are unavailable as the quarry in Stonesfield, near Witney, has now closed, but newer alternatives have been approved by English Heritage.

It is hoped the bulk of repairs will be completed before October, as a colony of bats hibernate in the roof over winter. Bats are a protected species is England and mustn’t be disturbed.

Mr Humphrey said: “I’m holding my breath. You never open up an old building without finding something you didn’t expect.

“We are hoping for the best. As long as we can get the beams done, we can finish off the tiling in November before all the Christmas services.”

From 100-mile bike rides by Wytham Cricket Club to ‘oompah’ bands hosted in barns, the community rallied around to raise cash over about four years.

Last winter people were invited to decorate church roof slates with something special to them at a cost of £30. It proved popular and the slates will be used during repairs.

Grants awarded to the fund included £53,000 from the Heritage Lottery Fund and £10,000 from the Oxfordshire Historic Churches Trust.

Fellow churchwarden Kathleen Day-Dawson added: “I am chairwoman of the Friends of All Saints, which is a marvellous organisation putting All Saints at the centre of the community. It has been quite strenuous but we have a very good, hardworking committee.

“We don’t have a huge congregation – about 12 to 14 on a Sunday – but there is a huge turnout on special events. People want their church for weddings and funerals.

“The money is a huge relief. But it varies a great deal and we don’t know quite what to expect when we get the slates off.”