THE heroic deeds and sacrifices of villagers have been preserved thanks to a £2,000 grant.

Great Budworth's war memorial has been restored using cash from English Heritage and the Wolfson Foundation.

The memorial, which is part of the Lychgate at the entrance to Saint Mary and All Saints Church in the village, had fallen into disrepair, with several roof slates becoming loose or slipping and the stonework of the walls having developed cracks.

But it has now been restored to its former glory and Peter Duxfield, senior church warden, said: 'We were delighted to receive the grant from English Heritage.

'In the last two years, with the help of similar grants from the Heritage Lottery Fund and the Historic Cheshire Churches Preservation Trust, we have also been able to restore our 1839 Samuel Renn church organ and replace the oak louvres in the tower.

The Lychgate was built in 1920-21 as a memorial to those who fell in the 1914-1918 war.

Three memorial plaques are set into the two inside walls. The first commemorates the 28 members of the village, including two brothers, who fell in the First World War, the second commemorates eight villagers who died in the Second World War, while the third plaque is more unusual, being a record of the 205 men and four women from the parish who also served in, but survived, the First World War.

The church dates back to the 14th Century and is a Grade I-listed building. To keep it in good repair costs around £25,000 a year.

Mr Duxfield said: 'We are not just trying to preserve the church as a well-maintained museum.

'We have recently launched an appeal for a further £150,000 to allow us to re-arrange the layout of the West End of the church to make it more user-friendly.

'We also hope to be able to restore the Old School House, which stands in the grounds of the church, so that it too can be used as meeting room for the Sunday school and other youth groups and as a visitor information centre both for the church and the parish.'