A CHURCH near Cirencester is appealing for help to restore its medieval roof and wall painting.

The north side of the roof at St Mary the Virgin in Syde requires restoration to ensure it stays watertight and to prevent rot from setting in to the tie-beam roof.

The church’s fragile wall painting also needs to be cleaned and stabilised.

It is of the royal arms of Charles II, but also boasts six paintings underneath which date back to the 1200s.

On a GoFundMe page appealing for donations, church treasurer Roger Schofield said: “The church’s Saxon origins date from over a thousand years ago, and its tower has a saddleback roof characteristic of the region.

“The nave has a rare tie-beam roof built in the 1400s and an ancient wall painting depicting the royal arms of Charles II - with more than one earlier medieval painting underneath - but all is not well.

“The north side of the roof needs complete restoration to keep it watertight and to prevent rot setting in to the tie-beam roof.

“Since 2015, our small number of parishioners have managed to raise nearly two-thirds of the £150,000 needed to restore the roof.

“But recently, experts have estimated we need another £16,500 to clean and stabilise the fragile wall painting before it is lost forever.

“We need to raise a total of £166,500 to restore our church for future generations.”

Churchwarden Penny Wright said that it will cost around £150,000 just to replace the north side of the roof.

“That is a lot of money for a small community to raise, even with the enthusiasm and support of lots and lots of people locally,” she said.

“We have, of course, applied for all sorts of grants, but we have also baked cakes, run fundraising concerts, sold books and done many other things to raise money.

“We have over £90,000 towards our target.

“At the same time, we have been investigating the ancient wall painting that sits high above the chancel arch.

“We thought it was just a picture of the royal coat of arms of Charles II, but it turns out that there are another six paintings underneath going all the way back to the 13th century.

“That makes it quite rare and historically very interesting.

“Our expert picture-conservators have advised us that they can clean it up and help to stop it deteriorating further, but that will be very fiddly and time-consuming work and will cost us another £16,000.

“We are really hoping that crowdfunding will help us to look after both the building and the wall painting.”

To donate to the church’s GoFundMe page, visit gofundme.com/f/tiny-church-needs-your-help