AN OLD Town church has shown off the sparkling results of its £350,000 refurbishment.

Christ Church, in Cricklade Street, closed for eight weeks while improvement works were carried out, the first time in the church’s 166 year history.

The building has been transformed with a stunning oak floor, a new gas heating system and LED lighting. The church also boasts state of the art audio visual equipment and an oak screen storage area.

The church’s original Baltic oak pews have also been restored and returned to the church.

The work was designed to appeal to modern-day churchgoers but still retains the history and feel of the building. It also aimed to make the church building more welcoming and attract people to use the site as a meeting place.

Stephen Grosvenor, chairman of the buildings committee, said he was delighted with the revamp.

He said: “We have spent a substantial amount of money to greatly enhance the potential of an already fantastic and much loved building. Whilst the work was being carried out, we all came to really appreciate its true grandeur and beauty which began to shine through. The new lighting, particularly brings out the impressive stonework and stained glass to best effect.”

The Grade II listed building had previously been without heat for a number of months after several of their boilers were condemned.

Much of the work has been financed by a donation from Pamela Gilbert, the daughter of a previous vicar of Christ Church who died in 2013, in additional to the support of the congregation and the Friends of Christ Church.

The new oak floor is made up of almost 20,000 oak blocks and features an intricate compass emblem at the centre of the crossing.

Rev Simon Stevenette said the compass is to remind the church of their mission to constantly look for ways to engage with the community.

Reverend Stevenette said the temporary closure of the church had made him realise how many supporters the place of worship had.

He said: “Easter is a great time to re-open our church - the historic building has been renewed and re-vitalised ready to resume its place at the heart of the Old Town community. We have found, during the closure, just how many people have missed being able to pop in for a quiet prayer, a bit of peace or to remember a loved one.

“Our objective, over the coming years is to continue to offer our buildings for the service of the community, whether for worship, celebration or entertainment. The flexibility of the new spaces in the church opens up many exciting opportunities for new ways to experience the building from beer festivals to traditional evensong - concerts to summer balls - a place for people to meet people, a place for service and services.”

Christ Church will be re-opening for services this Sunday with services for Palm Sunday held at 8am, 10am and 6.30pm.