A VILLAGE is preparing for a celebration to mark the 750th anniversary of its church.

The focus of the celebrations will see a golden cockerel, made by local blacksmith Brian Russell, placed on top of the spire at St Andrew's Church, in Winston, near Barnard Castle. Church warden John McBain said it would symbolise vigilance, awakening and hope.

The main event will be on Sunday, December 5, when the Bishop of Durham, Dr Tom Wright, will take part in an evensong service. It will be followed by a tea and an exhibition of the church's history in the village hall.

The historian Surtees once declared that no clergyman should move to Winston without being married, since if wed later, he might assume that his wife only married him for the view from the rectory.

George Dobson, the architect who designed Grey Street, in Newcastle, planned the church enlargement and re-roofing in 1848.

Victorian Grisaille windows, donated by rector William Webb in 1860, are reputed to be the finest of their type in the diocese.