A RURAL county church is set to celebrate 150 years since it was consecrated this month.

After Llanwarne's old church, St John Baptist, had to be abandoned due to flooding, Christ Church was built nearby in 1864.

And it drew plenty of local attention – with churches rarely built at that time.

"The original church was open prior to medieval times. Parishioners tried really hard to stay there and build the pews up but it got to the point where it wasn't sustainable and it was very difficult to bury anybody – the coffins would just float and people would have to use rocks to keep them down," explained Katrina Stephens, from Llanwarne.

"So they went over the road and built Christchurch which was a very grand building and a number of interesting features were put in at that time."

To celebrate the anniversary of the consecration there will be an evensong service on Sunday (September 14) at 6.30 pm.

Very Reverend Michael Tavinor, Dean of Hereford Cathedral, will be preaching on the evening and a visiting choir is also set to perform.

The medieval Flemish roundels installed in the church have been restored ahead of the event.