A HISTORIC church may be forced to rein in repairs unless it can get out of the red.

St Andrew’s Church, pictured, in Wanborough, has said it could be faced with cutting back on tending its grounds and on maintenance of its ancient church building.

The amount of cash in its reserves has plummeted in recent years, from around £90,000 a decade ago to £50,000 today.

And vicar Rev Robin Cardwell has called on parishioners to dig deeper to help them avoid a sticky financial situation.

“When I came into the parish 10 years ago, our reserves were about £90,000,” he said. “They’re being eaten up, and at this rate our reserves will dwindle to nothing.

“St Andrew’s churchyard is a very beautiful one. If funds continue to dwindle maybe we can’t have our churchyard so well looked after.

“We’d only be able repair the roof when things are actually leaking through.

“We’d end up doing only the things that are absolutely essential.”

The church itself dates back to the 11th century.

But the Rev Cardwell said that if revenue continues to fall, it won’t just have an impact on his individual church. If cash ebbs across the whole diocese, it could even face redundancies of clergy.

“What will happen is if our income goes down we’d have to reduce the amount we give to the diocese,” he said.

“What we appeal for is for people to pledge to give £10 per month, and if lots of people do that it’ll see a significant increase in our income.”

To that end, the church is organising a book sale tomorrow from 2pm to 4pm at the village hall, in the High Street, Wanborough.