Church reopens six years after collapse
The South Wolds PartnershipA church which partially collapsed without warning six years ago is to reopen on Sunday with a service of dedication.
The tower at St John the Baptist Church, in High Toynton near Horncastle, fell down in January 2020.
It has been rebuilt, minus the tower, with the work part-funded by a £200,000 National Lottery Heritage Fund grant along with money raised by villagers.
Church secretary Alison Bell said the church is a well-used community resource and its destruction had left locals "in horror".
The current church was built in 1872 and Bell said the structure "was a bit dodgy from the start".
"It had to be braced before the end of the 19th Century, so it's never been that good," she said.
"We were always led to think the Victorians did everything right, but even contemporary books have noted that the materials used were poor."
One suggestion was that it was built on a medieval graveyard, which meant there were "possibly voids underneath", she added.
A Lincoln firm of stonemasons carried out the rebuilding work.
It now has a new glass door, entrance and pathway, as Bell said it would cost "far too much money" to rebuild the tower.
A day of celebration will take place on 10 May with a service of dedication led by the Bishop Of Grimsby the Right Reverend Jean Burgess.
According to Bell, the last time a bishop visited the church was when the tower was first built 154 years ago.
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