WORSHIPPERS will mark a milestone in the creation of a new annexe to their church building – which will help them to serve the local community.

Churchgoers from St Mary and All Saints Church, Droxford, in the Meon Valley, are creating a new Community Café and Heritage Centre adjoining the grade 1 listed Norman church, and the construction of the annexe is now almost complete. Work started in January on the £240,000 project, and its flint walls and pitched roof blend well with the existing building.

The rector of Droxford, Meonstoke, Exton and Corhampton, the Rev Tony Forrest, will cut a ribbon at the Droxford Country Fair on Saturday 1st June to celebrate the end of the building work. The annual fair also includes a bell peal, a performance by the Meonstoke School Drummers, songs and a raffle.

The Friends of Droxford Church launched their appeal for £75,000 in October 2018, as they already had £165,000 in the bank or pledged for the project. They wanted an annexe to include a new Community Café, called Wilfrid’s, that will serve hot drinks and refreshments, and a Heritage Centre that would display the history of Droxford’s church and community from Saxon times to the 20th century.

They have now raised £60,000 of that amount, which has enabled the construction work to be completed. They need another £15,000 to complete the internal work before the café and centre can open. The appeal will remain open until June 30 to enable that to happen.

The plan is for the café to open regularly from September. Volunteers will also open the café in July and August for training and trial openings on selected weekends for visitors and ramblers. They’ll also serve tea and biscuits from the North Chapel of the church during Droxford Fair on June 1, as a foretaste of what the café will offer.

And when the Heritage Centre opens, it will include exhibits recalling the occasion when Winston Churchill met Allied leaders in Droxford railway station before D-Day in 1944, as well as host of other artefacts and displays.

The project has been supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund, Hampshire County Council, Garfield Weston Foundation, South Downs National Park, Allchurches Trust, Headley Trust, Droxford County Fair and the Droxford PCC. For more information, see www.friendsofdroxfordchurch.org.uk