A FUNDRAISING appeal to raise money for vital repairs to an historic church has been officially launched by the parish vicar.

St Mary’s Church, in Bolton on Swale, near Richmond, which dates back to the 14th Century, is in urgent need of repair after a report found that large parts of the roof and guttering needs replacing.

The grade-II* listed building is in line for a £118,000 grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund and English Heritage, but the church committee must match that with £60,000 of their own funding before work can begin.

Mark Whyman, a member of the local parish, which also includes Easby and Brompton on Swale, said: "The village is small and the church large and it no longer has the aristocratic patronage that it enjoyed in 1875, the date of the last restoration when the owners of Kiplin Hall put their hands in their pockets. The intervening 136 years have taken their toll.

"What was an interesting and complex roofscape has become a nightmare with numerous leaks and drips.

"Fortunately the Heritage Lottery Fund has stepped in with generous funding but the grant comes with a requirement for £60,000 of matched funding.

"Raising such a huge sum is an almost impossible task for a small congregation in a village where sheep outnumber the inhabitants."

The fundraising committee have already got off to a good start in the appeal after receiving a donation of £6,000 from the Sir John Priestman Trust, based in Sunderland.

A number of events are been planned for the church across the summer and organisers are also working on a project to bring more tourists to the church by working with nearby Kiplin Hall.

The committee is also trying to entice walkers into the church by offering bottles of cold water in return for a donation to the appeal.

Lilian Bowles, the appeal organiser, said: "We are just getting started so at the moment it is about letting people in the local area know that we are fundraising.

"We are also applying to a lot of grant giving organisations to help us reach the total figure, because otherwise we will not receive the lottery grant."