It started off as a modern day parable of the talents – but degenerated into an unsavoury squabble between worshippers and the Church of England. 
But now, five years after the congregation was locked out of St Anne’s Church at Lea Cross, they have won back the keys.
And they now hope to restore the building before using it for community events and some religious services.
Built by Samuel J. Hawkes in 1888, St Anne’s was never consecrated. It was left as a private church in trust to the people of Lea Cross in 1927, but became increasingly dilapidated in recent years.
Birds were nesting in the clock and organ and among the bells in the belfry, there was mould everywhere, much of the timberwork was riddled with rot and woodworm and water poured through the roof when it rained.
The bells had not been rung for many years. One had even broken away but had narrowly avoided crashing to the ground because it was wedged against a beam.
The congregation of 40 people finally decided in the summer of 1997 that something had to be done before the church became a ruin.
In an amazing display of community effort, led by Cruckton farmer and church organist, Eric Jones and his wife Jean, a DIY army of around 25 people got down to work.
They restored the clock and bells, patched up the belfry roof, re-laid rotten floors, repaired electric wiring, re-glazed the windows, put stone chippings down on the drive and unblocked two 70ft chimneys.
By 1991, a fire burned in the grate again, the bells rang out and the interior was once again a suitable place for worship.
But things went sour when the congregation fell out with the then Rector of Pontesbury, Prebendary David Roberts.
A dispute blew up over who should pay the repair bills and whether worshippers could use trust funds controlled by the Diocese of Hereford. And the congregation was also seeking the return of a bishop’s chair and other artefacts removed from St Anne’s.
Neglected
Increasingly bitter words were exchanged, the Charity Commissioners and ecclesiastical courts were drawn into the row and villagers were finally locked out of the church on the order of the Bishop of Hereford, Anthony Priddis, in 2005 when they refused to hand back the keys after losing their legal battle.
Since then, the church has remained empty and neglected while the Mary Hawkes United Charity, set up by the Charity Commissioners, tried to sell it.
And last week, came the big news that it had been sold for £85,000 to Tewkesbury man, Brian Wardrobe, and ownership had passed to a mystery villager who wanted to return it to the people.
Congregation members Margaret Gwilt and Gladys Price said they were delighted to get their church back.
Mrs Gwilt said: “We haven’t been inside it for five years and we had almost given up. We are thrilled to bits and I think we will be holding services there.
“We can have choral concerts and harvest festivals, it will be a social area.” And Mrs Price said: “I was beginning to think I would never see this day again.
“I remember coming here as a child with my 90-year-old grandfather and now I am in my 80s.”
So they now have the keys and access to their beloved church again.
And villagers are now gearing up for yet another huge community effort to bring St Anne’s back to life.
By Peter Johnson
