Leaning church with a wonky floor needs repairs

A church in Lincolnshire which has a more severe tilt than the Leaning Tower of Pisa needs to raise £100,000 for repairs.

The tower of St James' Church in Dry Doddington, near the Nottinghamshire border, leans by 5.1 degrees, whereas the tower in Pisa leans by just under four degrees.

The church, which was built on clay and has no foundations, is sinking because it is rotting, and a campaign has been launched to raise money to fix the floor.

Church warden Richard Loynes said: "We need to replace it to make it safe so we can carry on worshiping it and using it in the community."

The church underwent extensive repairs which cost about £100,000 in 2015. That work was funded by a grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund.

Being a Grade II listed building "automatically adds a lot of money" to the repair costs, said Loynes.

The main part of the church was built in the 12th Century. The tower, built in the 14th Century, was underpinned in 1918 to prevent further tilting.

"There was an old wives' tale that during the Great Plague, people were buried under it or near it, or the tower was built on top of it," Loynes said. "I don't think that's true."

He added: "I've actually got records going back into the 1800s where it was suggested that we should straighten the towers in Dry Doddington.

"But there was much fury. No way were we going to do that."

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