‘Like a miracle’: hidden gold saves Lancashire church from closure

Unable to raise the £750,000 needed for urgent repairs, St Wilfrid’s Church looked likely to shut its doors after more than 700 years in the town of Melling, Lancashire.

But, on Good Friday, the church was saved from closure by the discovery, in a plastic bag hidden under the altar, of a box with nine gold Britannia coins worth nearly £30,000.

“We just burst into tears when we saw it,” the Rev Jane Lee, 54, told the Times. She and a parishioner found the bag while preparing the church for morning prayers.

“We couldn’t believe it,” she said. “It was like a miracle because it’s so desperately needed for the church.”

Produced by the Royal Mint in 1999, the nine coins had a face value of £100 each, but sold for almost £30,000. “We were both absolutely flabbergasted,” said Lee.

The coins were accompanied by a note, written on Salvation Army paper and dated 16 July 2022, 11am: “Hi there, I’d like to donate these nine gold Britannias to Melling church,” it read, and was signed by “James, servant of the living God.”

The benefactor has yet to be identified, despite efforts by church and diocesan officials. Similar gifts were left to at least two other churches in Lancashire in 2022.

Gold coins were found in the donation box of a church in Hornby and left behind the door of another in Quernmore. Lee believes that the coins at St Wilfrid’s were left by the same anonymous donor four years ago and lay undiscovered until now.

St Wilfrid’s was in the process of closing when the gold was discovered, according to Lee. The church, which has a congregation of only five, was in need of £750,000 for repairs to the roof, stained glass windows and other parts of the building. “We were struggling to keep our doors open.”

Lee said the gold coins were “the answer to their prayers” and would be used as a “seed” to apply for future grants and fundraising campaigns to complete the necessary repairs.

The current building of St Wilfrid’s dates to the 14th century, though a church has probably been on the site since before 1066. Following the discovery, a heritage group has also been set up to help with repair costs. That gives us hope, because it’s now not just the little congregation fighting to make this happen,” said Lee. “We’ve got a wider community behind us who are willing to help.”

The Rev Philip North, the bishop of Blackburn, said the gift was a “sign of hope”.

“It shows how loved the building is,” he added. “It shows that when we trust, God will provide. It would be an absolute tragedy for this church to close. This gift has doubled our determination to restore it for the benefit of the whole community.”