WORK has officially got underway as part of a major and urgent refurbishment project at an iconic South Somerset church.

The 15th Century Grade 1 Listed St George's Church in Hinton St George will be completely revamped in the project, which has been funded by a £185,000 grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund.

The repairs, which include vital restoration work to the church's tower, were identified as part of the five-yearly inspection, which was completed in 2014.

As part of the project, the church's lights were ripped out and replaced with an LED light system and the accessibility for disabled people and for members of the community was improved before Christmas.

Now, a team of stonemasons, conservators and carpenters have moved into the site to carry out the major work to the building, both internal and external.

The renovation is being run by the Parochial Church Council, and project manager David Clements said the work was essential and hoped it would help improve the church for the community.

He said: "This is a very important project for the church and will enable it to widen its role as an essential element of the fabric of the community of Hinton St George.

"We are looking forward to staging a wider range of events in the church than has hitherto been possible, as well as helping our many visitors to enjoy their visit to the full and conserving the church for future generations.

"We are hugely grateful to the Heritage Lottery Fund and to National Lottery players, without whom the project would not have been possible, as well as to the St. Andrew's Conservation Trust and the many villagers who have made donations and held fund-raising events to ensure that we could provide the necessary counterpart funding."

The external work will involve fully scaffolding the tower to enable vital repairs to be carried out, while inside the work is all to do with enabling the church to be used for a wider range of social and community uses.

This involves the removal of pews and their replacement with stacking chairs to create a new circulation space as well as improvements to the access to the historic Poulett Memorial Chapel.

The final element of the project is the provision of better information for visitors and residents alike to enable them to engage with and appreciate the history of the church and the village.

The central feature is the installation of a touch-screen information terminal which will be loaded with videos describing various aspects of church and village history, as well as information on the current project.

Nerys Watts, the head of Heritage Lottery Fund South West, said: “For nearly eight centuries there has been a church on this site and for much of that it has been St George's so, as well as being a much-loved local landmark, the church has a wealth of history and heritage to explore and protect.

"Thanks to money raised by National Lottery players we’re pleased to support this project and look forward to seeing the benefits for the church and the community.”