The £1.8 million restoration of St Mary's Church tower has been done for the people of Warwick and to ensure the 900-year-old building remains standing for many more centuries to come.

That was the message from church warden John Luxton at the end of a "very stressful" project on the tower which has spanned over the past few years.

Works at the town centre church began back in 2021 after safety concerns were raised about the stonework at the top of the tower.

What has followed has been a "huge" effort by the church to secure funding and get the vital repair work completed.

"It was always going to be, did we have enough money at the end of the day," John told Nub News. 

"I am so pleased to say we have finished, we have used every penny of our capital fund, but we still have our day to day funds, which we promised never to touch. 

"And now the church is going to be fully open, and people can pay to come up the tower."

The 12 heraldic shields have been refurbished (image by Rivr)

The shields were in very poor condition (image by Rivr)

He added: "One of the lessons learned and appreciated is that this tower and this church is not just for people who come to church. This belongs to the town. 

"People are so pleased when things went well, when the scaffolding came down. And a lot of people who live in Warwick have told us they have never been in the church before."

As with any big project, things became more complicated as the work progressed as St Mary's realised more repairs were needed.

The past few months have seen many of the "severely eroded" pinnacles replaced, mortar replaced, arches rebuilt, every stone checked to make sure it is safe and the clock faces and 12 heraldic shields all reconditioned and brought back to life.

What was expected to cost £1.3 million has eventually reached £1.8 million.

The view from St Mary's (image by Rivr)

"One of the problems was, when they were doing remedial work around 60 years ago, they did some repairs but without spending any money," John explained. 

"So we actually found some of the grouting had been done with cement, which had led to damage inside some of the stones."

John was quick to thank the "countless" benefactors who have "given generously" to the project, as well as locals for their patience during the works.

Major contributions included a £250,000 grant from The National Lottery Heritage Fund, as well as donations from local authorities including Warwick Town Council and Warwick District Council, and individual donors.

The financial pressures on the project were pushed even further given St Mary's revenue streams have dipped massively since 2020.

The clock faces needed extensive works (image by Rivr)

The clocks have been brought back to life (image by Rivr)

"If you are a church like ours which is a very special one, you get lots of visitors every day and we were getting around 30,000 visitors a year who were giving donations," John explained. 

"So when Covid hit, our congregation could eventually meet but we could not open up to visitors, so the income dropped. 

"Then the tower happened, and people couldn't get in, and visitor numbers didn't recover properly."

But now the 160ft tower is reopened, and locals can come and pay £5 to walk the 160 steps to the top.

And as well as making sure the tower and church are available to visitors, St Mary's has also invested in n aew augmented reality experience that will give an insight into its history using technology created by local company Rivr.

The tower has been shut since early 2023 (image by Rivr)

A 3D model of the church has been installed with two iPads, allowing visitors to take a virtual tour of the building and learn more about the history of the church.

Some of it is even narrated by local schoolchildren, showing St Mary's commitment to getting the community involved.

"We have got a really good relationship with Rivr, who have been great," John said. 

"We wanted to make sure we didn't just focus on the building, our goal was to get the history of this place known by more people, particularly youngsters in Warwick. 

"It is for Warwick and for creating knowledge. 

"Our goal is to make it available to schools."