Restoring Beachamwell Church will take between 3 to 5 years and cost £3 million, says Archdeacon
The cost will be covered by insurance and local fundraising from those who want to see the building restored to it's former glory
It's estimated that a Church in Beachamwell, Swaffham will be restored in three to five years, and cost £3 million.
That's according to the Venerable Hugh McCurdy, the Archdeacon of Huntingdon and Wisbech.
Who helps look after St. Mary's, which was severely damaged by a fire at the start of the month.
He told us that the cost will be covered by insurance and local fundraising from those who want to see the building restored to it's former glory.
He went on to say that the tragedy earlier this month does give them a chance to make the building fit for the 21st Century:
"It's pretty clear that the community want to see the church rebuilt and restored with a thatched roof. As a Diocese, we believe this is the opportunity to put new facilities in. For example, there weren't any toilets before or an area to serve teas and coffees in, after an event or a service".
He says the building's integral to the village:
"People have great affection for the church building, because it is the place where they got married, or they attended a funeral or where there was a thanksgiving or a baptism of a child. All these events have strong memories for people and they have an association with the building at key moments of their lives".
But he concluded by admitting that they're still currently dealing with the fallout of the fire:
"Anything that is of value like the war memorial which is in four or five piece, because it's stone and it cracked under the heat, if we are able to pick all those pieces up, we will hopefully be able to hopefully put them back together and remount it on the wall.
One of the stain glass conservators is coming to look at all the different fragments of glass, that are on the floor. They will all be gathered and we'll see what we can do- whether patterns present themselves or they can be re-used at all. Once that work is done, then the church has to be made safe from wind and weather to make sure that no further can or will be done to it".