Shenstone's 13th Century tower set to reopen

Shenstone Tower once formed part of a church which was demolished in the 19th Century

A 13th Century tower will reopen after major restoration work was completed.

The work was led by a campaign group that has raised hundreds of thousands of pounds for the repairs to Shenstone Tower in Staffordshire.

Jeremy Cotton, chair of the trustees, said it had "crumbling masonry and trees growing out of the walls", before The Friends of Shenstone Tower (FST) group was set up in 2019.

He said it was "within four to five years of a catastrophic masonry fall".

The FST were able to raise more than £100,000 through events and appeals and were given almost £400,000 from Historic England, along with £70,000 from the Community and Environment Fund run by the developers of the HS2 rail project.

The tower, near Lichfield, is all that remains of a medieval church, which was demolished in 1853.

The tower now has a viewing platform at the top

The Grade II*-listed structure was built on the site of an earlier church, known to have existed in 1129.

Archaeological excavations have found evidence of Saxon foundations below that.

It was repaired to look how it might have done when it was first erected, with 13 historical information boards to tell the history of the local community since Saxon times.

A campaign group formed in 2019 to fund the repairs to the tower

The money paid for plants to be removed, the masonry to be repaired, the installation of a new staircase and the creation of a viewing platform on the roof.

Cathy Elliot, Independent Chair of the HS2 Funds, said the restoration had been a "fantastic initiative driven by a group of dedicated volunteers from the local community"