THE Bishop of Ramsbury has dedicated a new statue during a service at the Saxon Church of St Laurence, to mark a two-year restoration project at the church.
The Rt Rev Edward Condry was guest of honour at the service – taken by the Rev Joanna Abecassis – at the 11th century Bradford on Avon church.
The Bishop blessed a new Doulting stone twisting ring sculpture by artist John Maine in front of about 40 people in Church Street.
He said: “It is wonderful to see the whole community out to mark this great inspiring occasion.
“I think John Maine has done a magnificent job and we are very grateful to him.”
During the service, Mr Maine gave a reading and the congregation sang hymns.
The artist said: “I developed a twisting ring to be carved in stone, which would encircle the intersection of the cross much higher up the wall. I wanted to link the new ring to the lower historical relic, but without joining pieces physically.”
The church’s trustees, who worked hard to fund the work at the east wall of the Saxon Church, thanked the community for its support.
Anna Tanfield, who has been chairman of the trustees for two years, said: “It has been a lot of hard work by all the trustees and I would like to thank them for their efforts. We would like to thank the Bishop of Ramsbury for attending, as well as the local community for their support and donations. I would also like to thank Joanna for the great service.”
An afternoon tea party was held at nearby Holy Trinity Church, in Church Street.
Bradford on Avon mayor John Potter said: “This is the first time I have been to a service in that church and I really enjoyed it, I thought it was very atmospheric.”