A HISTORIC church in Wilton may be turned into a community hub as part of plans to give it a new lease of life.

Old St Mary’s Church in the Market Place was made redundant in 1972 and is in the care of the Churches Conservation Trust.

The trust, through a number of volunteers in Wilton, now hopes to bring the church back into community life.

Volunteer John Goddard said: “The project is in the very early stages but there is a lot of enthusiasm for the idea.

“We hope to make it a living place rather than a decaying church which only sees occasional use.

“The present plans involve engaging local schools and older people with an aural history project and there are tentative plans for a history festival next year based around Saint Edith of Wilton.”

Once the town’s Italianate church was completed in 1845, the ‘old’ St Mary’s Church was partially demolished, leaving only the chancel with one bay of the nave, and the ruins of the arcades and tower arch.

Speaking at a Wilton Town Council meeting, Mr Goddard told councillors the original idea had involved turning the church into an arts centre.

But it was decided that it was unsuitable for such a purpose, and the plans were later changed to involve a community hub which would host events and hold artefacts relating to the town.

Responding to the plans, Wiltshire councillor for Wilton, Peter Edge, said: “One of the aspirations we have as a town council is to make a tourist information centre there a possibility.

“We have also toyed with the idea of making it a museum.

“There is a certain amount of synergy with the ideas and it would be good to co-ordinate things together.”

At the meeting, a member of the Churches Conservation Trust was invited to join the Wilton Town Team with plans for further co-operation.