For the first time since 2014, St Moran Church in Lamorran has opened its doors to worshippers.

Every third Sunday of the month, congregations can now take part in a 3pm service of Evening Prayer with the Revd Linda Whetter.

The church, in Powder Deanery, closed in 2014 because of the cleaning difficulties created by sharing the building with two bat colonies.

With support from the Bats-in-Churches project and funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund among other generous donors, a restoration project was launched. The project has resulted in the bat colonies now separated from the congregation in their own specially built lofts.

The re-opening marks the end of almost 10 years of dedication and restoration work by a team of people at the church.

Nick Jeans, who has been involved in the work, said: “We are “more or less” complete. The conservation work in the south transept has had to be delayed until next summer as fully accredited conservators are rare birds, and ours is fully booked beyond next Easter!

“However, we have new ceilings throughout, the furniture has all been cleaned and restored, the plaster extensively repaired, the wainscot panelling recreated in the nave, floors restored, the church redecorated, and new lighting.”

Exciting events planned

The hope is that regular worship can be re-established at Lamorran. As well as services, the church is also open to visitors daily from 10am to 4pm and there are more exciting events planned.

Nick added: “We have been invited to join the Celtic Quiet Places project, the aim of which is to establish a network of churches with Celtic associations which are open for quiet prayer and contemplation. From time to time we will also be putting on events, in cooperation with others.  We played host to the Friends of Cornwall Historic Churches Trust in September; we plan to hold educational workshops based on the work done by ecologists on the bat colonies; and there is an opportunity for sharing with others our experiences in building conservation.”

The next service at St Moran is on February 19 at 3pm and all are welcome.