People in Helston were amazed to look out of their windows just before Christmas to see a large angel walking through the town.

With moveable arms and legs, the nine-foot tall angel made its way from the Museum of Cornish Life and along Church Street up to St Michael's Church.

It was made by artist Tony Crosby, a regular with Truro City of Lights, to echo the angels dancing the Flora Dance in the church’s East Window and mark the conclusion of a major restoration project at the church.

Now resident within the church, it received more than 100 visitors on the Saturday before Christmas during a church open day.

This was held to celebrate both the unveiling of the church's new floor and the results of work within the community connecting the church to the town, which was funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund and led by the Museum of Cornish Life, Helston.

Visitors were greeted by an arch of more than 130 flowers made by the people of Helston, and were able to view a film animation about the history of the church made by year six pupils of St Michael’s Primary School with the help of film maker Amanda Lorens.

They could also see a second film, made by Neal Megaw, showing the angel's journey through the streets of Helston from the museum to the church. It is hoped that in the coming years the lantern will become a regular feature in Helston's light parade at Christmas.

And the project does not stop there, as in the new year work will begin on a memory box to be used by local care homes and at local memory cafes.

It has been organised to coincide with reopening of the church, where the whole of the old floor has been removed and excavated, with a new floor foundation rebuilt, sympathetic to the 1750s Grade II* listed building.

This supports a stone-tiled floor of fossil limestone from Turkey, laid in a diamond pattern to create a sense of light and space by Peter Martin and Paul Wood of KPK Builders, Burncoose.

%image('12178187', type='article-full', caption='The angel in situ at St Michael's Church', alt='The angel in situ at St Michael's Church')

The angel in situ at St Michael's Church on the new floor

As one visitor said: “The first impressions when entering the door of St Michael's now is how very light and airy, and modern, it looks. It certainly now has that 'wow' factor. It should last for very many generations to come and Helston now has a beautiful church to be proud of.”

The project's cost of £97,000 has been funded by £72,000 in grants, with the balance being collected from donations and contributions from the church, its friends and congregation.

The church reopened for services on Sunday before Christmas was then in use over the festive period. A new church guidebook is now being prepared to bring the major project to a conclusion in the spring.