‘Our church is more leany than the Leaning Tower of Pisa’

Church warden Richard Laynes and other members of the parish outside Dry Doddington church which needs to raise £100,000 for repairs (Picture: Cover Media)

It’s the church with a bigger tilt than the Leaning Tower of Pisa.

But parishioners at St James in Dry Doddington, in Lincolnshire, have a far more pressing problem – fixing their wonky floor.

The church tower is well known for having a jaunty angle of 5.1° – a little more than Pisa’s 3.97°.

By 2015, it was in danger of collapse due to stone erosion and around £100,000 was spent on restoration to keep it standing.

But the church is now in danger again as the floor has deteriorated and stone slabs have moved, making it unsafe.

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Church warden Richard Loynes said: ‘As with hundreds of churches we need to raise funds, but we’re as bad – if not worse – than most as we have a wonky floor.

St James Church leans by 5.1 degrees (Picture: Cover Media)

‘We are hoping to raise just over £100,000 to tackle the floor, replaster some of the walls and to upgrade the electricity as we only have one plug.’

St James’s was originally built in the 12th century as a chapel of ease for older residents so they could avoid walking to the neighbouring parish of Westborough.

It later became its own parish church and its tower, dating from the 14th century, is thought to have first moved in the late1800s.

Leaning Tower of Pisa. Historic architecture. Pisa, Italy.
The church has a greater tilt than the Leaning Tower of Pisa (Picture: Getty Images)

The church contains a memorial to the 49 Squadron Avro Lancaster bomber that crashed near the village in November 1944.

Parishioners hosted a joint Easter Fair, cafe and egg hunt on Easter Saturday to raise funds for the restoration.

In December 2022, a study revealed the Leaning Tower of Pisa had straightened itself over the last two decades.

To make a donation to the appeal contact Richard at richardloynes@btinternet.com

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