Centuries-old church on verge of closure left 'flabbergasted' after discovering hidden stash of gold under altar

A 14th-century Lancashire church that was preparing to close its doors forever has discovered a hidden stash of gold coins worth nearly £30,000 beneath its altar.St Wilfrid's Church in the village of Melling, near Lancaster, had been facing permanent closure after its tiny congregation of five could not raise the £750,000 needed for urgent repairs to its building.Local vicar, Reverend Jane Lee, 54, has described it as just like a miracle”. Good Friday had been expected to be the church's final Easter service after around 700 years of continuous worship, or closer to 850 years if a Norman church that previously stood on the same site is included. TRENDING Stories Videos Your Say The discovery was made by the Reverend Lee and a parishioner as they were preparing the altar ahead of what they feared would be one of the church's last services.Reverend Lee told The Times: As we took the altar frontal off, the wedding kneeler was underneath, and I noticed a plastic bag sticking under it. When we took it out, there was a box in it with a note.Inside the box were nine gold Britannia coins produced by the Royal Mint in 1999, each with a face value of £100.The accompanying note, written on Salvation Army paper and dated July 16, 2022, read: Hi there, I'd like to donate these nine gold Britannias to Melling church.”It was signed: James, servant of the living God.When sold, the coins raised just under £30,000.Reverend Lee said: We were both absolutely flabbergasted. We couldn't believe it. We both burst into tears. You know, it was just like a miracle.She said it appeared nobody had fully reached beneath the altar during cleaning over the years and must have swept around the kneeler without looking behind it.LATEST DEVELOPMENTSPope excommunicates 500,000 Catholics from ultra-conservative rebel sectArchbishop of Canterbury promises to help give Palestinians 'the freedom you deserve'US students to study Bible stories in bid to to infuse Christian teachings into classroomsThe mystery donor, who signed himself only as James, has never been identified despite attempts by church and diocesan officials to trace him.Reverend Lee said she had not “got a clue who the benefactor might be.Parishioner Gordon Park, 79, who looks after the church's clock, bells and grounds, said he could not think of anyone called James with a link to the church.It has since emerged that at least two other churches in Lancashire received similar donations of gold coins in 2022.Coins were left in a donation box at a church in nearby Hornby and more were discovered behind the door of a church in Quernmore, near Lancaster.A local church official confirmed three churches and a school across the northern part of the Blackburn diocese had reported receiving a similar number of coins.All attempts to identify the donor, however, had been unsuccessful.St Wilfrid's is a Grade I-listed building and features a clock made by Edward Dent, the same craftsman who made the clock for the Houses of Parliament.It is also the resting place of Ann Fenwick, who campaigned for Catholic emancipation in Britain during the 1700s.When Reverend Lee arrived as vicar four and a half years ago, she was told the roof needed £100,000 of repairs. However, a full survey put the cost at closer to £450,000, with the total bill across the whole building reaching £750,000.The church could not even afford its £7,000 annual parish share payment to the local diocese and had been given special permission to withhold it.Two neighbouring churches in the parish agreed to increase their own contributions to reduce St Wilfrid's share to 20 per cent.Reverend Lee said the congregation had told her last year they could no longer go on, with particular concern about being able to pay the building's insurance.A public consultation held last year drew little active support, with locals expressing concern about the prospect of a derelict church but not willing to contribute financially.The process to formally close the church has already begun, but the vicar said she had asked whether it could be reversed if a miracle happens”.The £30,000 from the coins will make only a small dent in the overall bill, but a local heritage group has since been established to help raise the remaining funds.Reverend Lee said: That gives us hope, because it's now not just the little congregation fighting to make this happen. We've got a wider community behind us who are willing to help.The Bishop of Blackburn, the Right Reverend Philip North, said the discovery was a sign of hope.He added it would be an absolute tragedy for the church to close.This gift has doubled our determination to restore it for the benefit of the whole community,” he said. Our Standards: The GB News Editorial Charter