A RECTOR has thanked the community after £131,000 was raised to revamp a 900-year-old church.

The Rev Charles Masheder admitted it was a leap of faith after the church chose the most expensive option to improve St Mary’s Church in Ambrosden, near Bicester.

Mr Masheder said the parochial church council had decided in 2011 that it needed to make St Mary’s, which did not even have a toilet, more able to host social events as well as to serve its prime objective as a place of worship.

He said: “We took the leap of faith as we found that the scheme that would actually be the best would also be the most expensive.”

Four years later and through donations from the Church Lands Trust, Oxfordshire Historic Churches Trust, Viridor Credits, the Armed Forces Community Covenant Grant, as well as parishioners, the job is done and will be officially unveiled tomorrow.

The church now has a new meeting area, toilet and a kitchen.

Mr Masheder, who has been at the church for eight years, said: “We should like to say a very heartfelt thank-you to all.”

He added: “There were many discussions with the architect, church authorities, Cherwell District Council and English Heritage. It is appropriate because we intend the church to become very much a meeting place for the military and civilian populations, particularly with a new regiment arriving this year. “ In 2012, it was announced that 23 Pioneer Regiment, based in Bicester, was being disbanded but 1 Close Support Regiment, which is returning from Germany, will move to the barracks by 2016, and 21 Signal Squadron will also be based there.

Church warden Matt Holmes, who has lived in Ambrosden for 20 years, said some pews were removed to create space for the new meeting area.

He added: “There was a demand and a need for the church to have an area where people can come together in the local community, and we raised £131,000.

“This means we will engage much more with the local community.”

A celebration service of thanksgiving, led by the Bishop of Dorchester and acting Bishop of Oxford the Rt Rev Colin Fletcher, will take place at the church at 7.30pm tomorrow.