The making of a movie in a Herefordshire church inadvertently led to an ongoing real-life saga which is finally nearing its conclusion.
Weobley Parish Church had been used for part of the filming of Unconditional Love, a film starring Julie Andrews, Kathy Bates and Rupert Everett in 1999.
Film crews had asked to raise the floor slightly for ease of movement of cameras and equipment so created a plywood floor over the nave with mock tiles covering it.
They were going to strip it out after work finished on the film, however the vicar of the time decided that they liked the design and that it would work well for church services so decided to keep it.
In 2006, this wooden floor was replaced with a more permanent tiled floor after signs that it was becoming soft and springy.
Fast forward to 2018, and churchgoers noticed that the replacement floor had started sagging.
Alan Jones, member of the Friends of Weobley Church, said: "The problem as it turned out was that the floor had not been ventilated well enough underneath and it started rotting."
"So, having spent £50,000 to replace the original floor in 2006, we had to commit to another £50,000 in 2021 to finally sort it."
Rector of Weobley and Staunton Rev Philip Harvey said that the new floor will eliminate any chance of the rotting returning.
He said: "We are laying the floor over limecrete this time, which will end any issues with damp and rot. It won’t be a suspended floor this time so it will be solid all the way down."
Rev Harvey went on to thank all the donors that made the restoration possible.
"We've had a very generous donation from the Friends of Weobley Church, plus grants from Herefordshire Historic Churches Trust, Laslett's Charities and All Churches Trust," he said.
"We were still left with a shortfall of around £12,000 when the work started at the turn of the year, but thanks to the generosity of the public and our sponsor a tile initiative we have managed to recoup the majority of it.
"We are slightly behind schedule. We were hoping to be back in the church for Easter, it now looks like it will be more like May or June before we're back, but we're nearly there."
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