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A church in the Midlands that leans more than the Tower of Pisa is in need of more than £100,000 in repairs to renovate its wonky floor.
Dry Doddington’s St James church tower in Lincolnshire is famous for its jaunty angle of 5.1 degrees, compared to the landmark in Piazza dei Miracoli, Tuscany, which has a lean of about 3.97 degrees.
Residents are trying to raise money for the Grade II-listed building, which was built in the 12th century.
The church was originally built as a “Chapel of Ease” for older residents to attend rather than walking to neighbouring Westborough.
It later became its own parish church and its tower, dating from the 14th century, is estimated to have first moved in the late 19th century or early 20th century.
Richard Loynes, church warden at Dry Doddington, wrote on an online fundraising page: “We need to replace the very old floor in our 14th-century church which has the famous tower that leans more than Pisa!”
The tower was in danger of collapsing 11 years ago due to the stones on the tower eroding and developing into a health and safety hazard. A total of £100,000 was spent restoring the tower.
The tower is in a precarious position again due to the wooden floor deteriorating and the stone slabs shifting position.
Loynes told website Lincs Online: “As with hundreds of churches we need to raise funds, but we’re as bad, if not worse than most, as we have a wonky floor.
“We are hoping to raise just over £100,000 to tackle the floor, replaster some of the walls and to upgrade the electricity as we only have one plug,” he added.
The church contains a memorial to the 49 Squadron Avro Lancaster bomber that crashed near the village in November 1944.
The name Dry Doddington is a combination of Old English “dryge and Dodda+ing+ton” meaning “dry estate of a man called Dodda”, according to the Lincolnshire parish councils website.
The website states: “Standing as it does at the highest point in the village, the building has inevitably suffered from the effects of the weather.
“The current major restoration project is for a new floor, repairs to internal plastering and upgrades to the electrical installation, and fundraising is under way for this.
“The present floor is very uneven and the timber sections are badly rotted and infested with woodworm.”
