AFTER a year-long journey to restore the Holy Trinity Church in Bradford on Avon to its former glory, the £2million refurbishment was unveiled during the first Sunday service of the new church.

The Holy Trinity, in Church Street, was closed for nearly a full calendar year, with £2million of refurbishments being carried out. With the day’s prayers being led by the Bishop of Salisbury, Reverend Joanna Abecassis was happy to mark her first ever Sunday service at the church on December 18.

Mrs Abecassis said: “Our doors first closed this time last year with the exception of Christmas day so it has nearly been a whole year, this was our very first Sunday service after all of the works were finished. The Bishop dedicated our new glass doors which have been sandblasted with “Be still and know that I am God” on so people will see that when they first walk into the church.”

The new additions to the church include new Bath Stone flooring, a kitchen and new seating and underfloor heating.

“Our new furniture arrived last week, we decided to keep the wooden altar. For the communion we had 300 people arrive which was a fantastic amount of people. We were still cleaning over the weekend so make sure we could hold communion, before bringing the wine and the bread in,” added Mrs Abecassis.

The works were carried out by architects Chedburn and Dudley architects, BuroHappold in Bath, Ellis and Co from Shepton Mallet and led by project manager Jim Crouch, all of whom were welcomed to the opening service.

“The architects have been fantastic and the project manager did such a wonderful job with the works. Everyone deserves their credit for doing such a fantastic job to make the church look as it does today,” Mrs Abecassis said.

The bulk of the funds for the project were raised through the sale of the Christ Blessing painting by Quentin Metsys in 2013 but also involved grants and personal donations from residents and backers.

To carry on the good fortune for Mrs Abecassis and the fresh-faced Holy Trinity, the reverend was presented with an award by the town council at the last full council meeting.

Alison Craddock, Mayor of Bradford on Avon, said: "I was at the opening service on Sunday, which was led by the Bishop of Salisbury. It was a really joyful event. Great to see Holy Trinity open again, and looking terrific after the major renovations. It has been transformed into a wonderful space both for church services and for town events and performances, it would be great for choirs.

"The money received from the painting sale made the plan possible, and the rest is the the result of a huge amount of planning, enthusiasm and vision by a large number of people who belong to Holy Trinity, including, of course, Joanna Abecassis, the vicar, has been responsible for a great deal of the brave and forward thinking decision making.

"I am sure that this work will transform Holy Trinity into a huge asset for Bradford on Avon. Whereas before it looked rather tired, grubby, cold, damp and dark, it is now warm, clean and welcoming, and it's beauty is there for everyone to see and enjoy. A great and ongoing project."