HIDDEN treasures of an historic church are to go on display for the first time in over a decade.

The new exhibition at St John’s, Sharow, near Ripon will coincide with the national Heritage Open Days and will feature several collections of beautiful hand embroidered textiles, some thought to date back 200 years.

Joan Wilkinson, a member of the Northern Guild of Embroiderers, was invited to St John’s to examine the contents of a chest which had lain unheeded in a side chapel and will now go display.

She said: “I have spent many years working with historic textiles but these are some of the finest I have seen in our region - the amount of work that has gone into creating them is quite staggering, there’s literally a lifetime’s work on display.”

Now, Ms Wilkinson and a group of embroiderers are taking up needle and thread to help conserve them for future generations to enjoy. Visitors to the church on September 9 will be able to see the embroiderers at work, see the pieces up close and even try their hand at making textiles.