Take a look around the Bridgnorth church celebrating its 900th anniversary

St Gregory the Great Church in Morville, near Bridgnorth, received a National Lottery grant of £6,700 from the Heritage Lottery Fund.

Plans are now in place for an exciting heritage interpretation project – coinciding with the milestone anniversary celebrations in September.

The project will involve the community in exploring the many historical features of the village and church at Morville.

WATCH: Take a look around St Gregory the Great Church

People will take part in researching the history of the church and creating an improved display of the collection of Morville village photos and news cuttings.

The project will also enable local school children to discover the origins of the village through the creation of a timeline, which will be displayed in the church.

In the late Middle Ages the church was a priory attached to Shrewsbury Abbey and only became a parish church after Henry VIII dissolved the monasteries around 1540.

Tim Morris, one of the wardens at the Morville church, said: “We are thrilled to have received this support thanks to National Lottery players and look forward to celebrating the 900 years anniversary with lasting heritage improvements involving both young and older generations.

“There’s a series of things and events that will be going on throughout the year. There will be permanent noticeboards both inside and outside.

“We put the work in but were very pleased to be awarded the grant.”

The church, which was built in 1118, will celebrate its official 900 year anniversary on September 2.

The application for the grant was submitted in June 2017 before they were informed around five months later.

Work is also being carried out at the church on ancient windows and masonry.

The project, costing £23,000, is being funded by grants from the Shropshire Historic Churches Trust and Morville Church Building Trust.

It has seen much-needed repairs undertaken to external masonry including replacement of weathered stonework and making good mortar work in various areas including the tower and around window ledges where there has been ironwork damage.

In addition repair and maintenance work has been carried out to the windows including renovation of frames and replacement of glass.

This opportunity will be taken to install stainless steel mesh in place of some of the panes to improve air circulation and reduce damp within the building.

Mr Morris added: “We are very pleased that the support from Shropshire Historic Churches Trust and Morville Church Building Trust has enabled the restoration work to be undertaken especially as the church is celebrating its 900 year anniversary this year.”