CUSTODIANS of an historic church are launching a fundraising drive for vital repairs with a weekend of Roman activities.

St Helen’s Church in Kelloe, near Durham, has chosen 'The Romans are Coming' for the theme of the launch, as the church is dedicated to the mother of the Roman Emperor Constantine.

The celebration, in two weeks time, comes in the wake of the church accepting the tender on the first phase of work on the Grade One listed building.

Deputy church warden Robin Millerchip said: “This is an important chapter in the church’s history.

“We don’t normally celebrate St Helen but we decided we needed to kickstart our appeal fund and what better to do it than mark the event in memory of our founder.”

He added: “We have just formally agreed the first phase of work, which is the repair of the chancel roof and other parts of the building to keep it wind and watertight, which will cost about £120,000.

“It is a Norman building, with the bulk of it built from 1130 to 1150.

“As is so often the case, it is work that was carried out later that is causing trouble now. The church was altered in Victorian times and when they put a new roof on, that wasn’t made of the same high-quality stone as the original.

“That has caused us problems which needs rectifying because the roof is leaking. The original stonework is finally starting to give up the ghost too.”

Repairing the stonework, in particular the tower, will form the second phase, while a third stage will include alterations to bring church up to date, with kitchen facilities and rearranged interior. The latter stage will cost an estimated £600,000.

Mr Millerchip said: “For the first phase we have enough money to authorise work to go ahead, but still need to raise £10,000.”

He added: “Because the church is so important and the extent of repairs are quite extensive, Historic England have actually put us on the Buildings at Risk Register, which means we are a building of outstanding historic importance, that should not be allowed to fall down.”

The church will be open from 2pm to 5pm on Friday, September 8. On Saturday, September 9 re-enactment group Comitatus will give a display of Roman military camp life, weapons drill and help declare Constantine as Emperor, with the church open from 10am to 5pm.

The following day a procession will go from Workingmen’s Club to the church, led by the Romans at 10.30am, followed by a Festival Service at 11am. The church will be open from noon to 5pm.