THE only known piece of Elizabethan court dress which was kept in a small rural church in Herefordshire is being carefully conserved in London.

It was last May when it was revealed that an embroidered cloth, which had been on display in St Faith's Church in Bacton since 1909, was probably once worn by Queen Elizabeth I.

The cloth was removed from the Golden Valley church and placed on loan with the Historic Royal Palaces (HRP) in London for six years.

It will undergo an 18-month restoration before it is displayed at Hampton Court Palace.

Churchwarden at Bacton church, Charles Hunter, said: "We have still got five and a half years to work out what is going to happen to it. We are hoping it will come back to Herefordshire, working with support from the cathedral.

"The problem is it is going to cost a lot of money to provide a suitable building which has got the right security, right atmospheric control and temperature control. It would need to be something similar to the Mappa Mundi.

"It still belongs to Bacton Church. We are doing our upmost to make sure it comes back to Herefordshire."

A facsimile will be put on display in the church with further details to be released in the next few months.

The church had always been aware of its links with the Elizabethan period and knew the cloth had come to the church after being gifted to Blanche Parry in around 1590.

Miss Parry was born in Bacton but went on to serve 57 years for Queen Elizabeth I and died as her Chief Gentlewoman of the Bedchamber.

Mr Hunter said they are getting closer to confirming it was an item of clothing worn by Elizabeth I- it is not quite 100 percent confirmed.

He said: "It is so unlikely it was worn by anyone else because it is silver cloth which was only allowed to be worn by royalty."

He said the dark conditions of the church had helped conserve it.

He said: "It has been hanging on the wall in a damp church since 1909- the lighting is not very good in the church.

"We went up [to London] when it was taken out of its frame. The corner had been turned over in one place to fit it into the frame. The colouring of the bit that had been in the dark was not very much brighter than the whole cloth, which was staggering. The lighting in the church saved it.

"Up until 1909, when it wasn't on the little altar, it was probably under the vicar's bed."

Extensive research was carried out by Abbey Dore historian Ruth Richardson into Miss Parry and the embroidery. She discovered that in the famous Rainbow Portrait in Hatfield House the Queen is dressed in a strikingly similar fabric, which suggests it could have come from the Queen's skirt.

Mr Hunter added: "It is the only known piece of existing Elizabethan court dress because everything else was either done away with in the Reformation. There is a hat believed to be Henry VIII's. That and this are the only things at Hampton Court pre-Cromwell."