AFTER years of fund-raising, Elsfield’s Victorian mosaic housed in its historic church has been restored.

The £50,000 overhaul marks the end of the village’s 20-year refurbishment of the church of St Thomas of Canterbury.

Work started on the mosaic, which is a depiction of Da Vinci’s Last Supper, in 2011 after it had dried out from the damp that had previously plagued the building.

It was completed nearly a year later and was rededicated by the Bishop of Oxford.

Church warden Anthony Hughes said: “The building itself was very damp and the mosaic was suffering.

“We started to restore the church in the 1990s and have had some new central heating put in. This concludes the plans which were started around 20 years ago.”

Nearly £300,000 has been spent on the church in that time.

Fundraising to restore the mosaic began in 2010 and most of the £50,000 necessary was gathered within nine months.

The mosaic was created in the 1860s and is thought to have been from the workshop of Italian glassmaker Antonio Salviati who produced mosaics for Westminster Abbey and Aachen Cathedral, Germany.

Elsfield resident and church warden Carolyn Brown said: “In the 1990s the church was on the brink of closing so we set about using it more but there was no heating at all.

“We created a village room in the church and built on a side aisle for a kitchen space.

“This has been really successful. It has allowed the village to meet, which it couldn’t before.”

There has been a church on the site since at least 1122 and the earliest parts of the present building date from 1170.

St Thomas, which is part of the parish of Marston with Elsfield, is holding an open weekend for anyone who wants to come and see the mosaic and learn about the work involved in restoring it.

It will take place on Saturday, June 23 and Sunday, June 24.