AN urgent crowdfunding campaign to raise £50,000 to unlock a major National Lottery heritage grant to save the iconic Porlock parish church spire has been launched by the village community.

Experts say that without major repairs the unique flat-topped wooden spire will deteriorate to the point where it could be unsafe to use the building or the churchyard.

The spire of St Dubricius church is thought to be 13th century and is one of the very few oak-framed truncated spires in the country.

The top was removed after the spire was damaged in a storm in 1703 and the shingles were last replaced 90 years ago using local timber.

A recent survey has shown that there is serious deterioration with external cladding failing and nails which hold the shingles giving way.

There is other damage to woodwork including the bell-chamber louvres and rainwater is affecting the ancient structural timbers.

Calling for help from crowdfunding, campaigner Martin Spence said: “We are about to apply for a large grant from the National Lottery Heritage Fund and, after a huge amount of work over several years drawing up our detailed bid, we are reasonably confident they will grant it.

“However, the Heritage Lottery Fund will not cover the whole of the costs.

“We have to look to other grant-awarding bodies and also raise money ourselves through concerts, quizzes, and similar fund-raisers.

“We hope to raise £50,000 locally and this crowdfunding appeal is a vital part of that.

“We hope to raise at least £10,000 through it as a major part of our drive to raise £50,000.

“If we do not raise enough, we definitely will not get the lottery grant.

“If we can raise this money and secure the Heritage Lottery grant then that, together with smaller, but still substantial grants from other bodies, will secure the future of the spire, hopefully well into the twenty-second century.

“We have already been involving local people in preparatory planning and we intend to use the whole spire project to make them more deeply conscious of the history and heritage of their village.

“As Porlock is a tourist destination, that will also apply to our many visitors.

“The work will support local traditional industry and traditional crafts, and will supply training to new entrants to those crafts.

“While the work is going on, there will be demonstrations and exhibitions to show the skills employed and to stimulate interest in traditional woodworking and building.”

Mr Spence said a fund-raising campaign was held in 2021-23 for the project, although not using crowdfunding.

He said: “The money donated then was spent on the very early stages of the work, for surveys and investigations which enabled our first lottery application.

“In 2024, the lottery gave us £180,000 for the more detailed planning, detailed specifications.

“Without those early donations we could not have got this far.”

The crowdfunding appeal will go live online on February 7, when details will be available on how to send donations.