THE people of Germansweek are celebrating being able to keep their church watertight for generations to come, thanks to a major grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund.

The grant of £66,000 from the National Lottery pot will be used to repair the leaking roof and tower of the Church of St Germans.

Vicar the Rev Adrian Brook said: ‘The total cost is £95,000 which was more than we could ever raise ourselves with our few people, so the Heritage Lottery Fund grant was much needed.

‘The church is quite important in a little village like ours. It is a community focal point, not just an historic building.

‘It is still open, it is still a working church, and with this money we can get the work done and keep it going for a few more generations.

‘It also means that we can start to get a bit more creative with how we use the building.

‘It is open to visitors and we are hoping to might form part of a pilgrim trail in the future.

‘We started opening the church a few years ago and it is surprising how many people have come to visit us.’

The church is named after St German, a 5th century missionary who came to the Westcountry from the Auxerre region of France and founded churches during the fifth century.

The lottery funding has been topped up by local fundraising efforts spearheaded by the Friends of St German’s Church.