The vicar of St Breaca in Breage has said he is “absolutely delighted” after the church was awarded £41,000 of government funding towards roof repairs.

The church was one of seven places of worship in Cornwall, and around 500 in the UK, to benefit from a total of £30m funding from the Chancellor of the Exchequer’s Listed Places of Worship Roof Repair Fund, after making an application at the start of this year.

The vicar, the Reverend Peter Johnson, said: “We’re delighted with it because they worked really hard to get that together, and there aren’t many churches that have actually been successful.”

Churchwarden Trefor Bowen said the grant meant that “urgent” repairs could be carried out to make the roof watertight, which would allow it to stay open for use.

He said: “It’s brilliant news. It’s a repair, not a new roof, but mainly to repair any slates that have fallen off or slipped, and hopefully we might get the cast iron guttering replaced, because that’s in a frightful state.

“We’re keen to get the work done because we have got a lot of very valuable wall paintings.”

He added: “We’re absolutely delighted because there is no way the church could manage to fund sufficient funds for the roof to be repaired so it’s actually worked really well.

“It’s brilliant news at last.”

Mr Bowen said that the church had been notified of the fund just before Christmas by the Diocese of Truro, and rushed to get their application in before the deadline at the end of January. The group which put the application together was helped by the fact St Breaca had recently been the subject of a quinquennial inspection – a mandatory five year review which the Church of England has carried out every five years to ensure that its buildings are kept in good repair.

They were also assisted by a report on the wall paintings, which have been declared by the Church Buildings Council to be one of the nation’s 100 church treasures, and awarded a £38,000 grant for refurbishment.

Mr Bowen said: “They have been there since about 1500, so have lasted a while.”

Although the church has been awarded the money, Mr Bowen said planning will need to be done before work can be carried out, and it will most likely start in October or November, with hopes to be finished by Christmas.