A FIRE-DAMAGED Liverpool church will remain closed for two months longer than originally thought, it was confirmed yesterday.

The Diocese is also faced with raising nearly £250,000 to restore and clean the 150-year-old Conacher organ at St Anthony of Egypt church on Scotland Road, which was caked in soot during the blaze.

The organ, which has a rare pneumatic action, is thought to be one of the oldest working mechanical Conachers in England.

The historic nineteenth century church was closed three weeks ago following a fire by the sanctuary platform.

A three-foot Paschal candle was left burning overnight following a funeral, causing the wax shaft to bend and topple over.

The interior of the church, including its intricately-painted altar statues, marble lecterns and dozens of pews, is covered in a film of greasy dust.

The organ, which was not listed as a separate item on the church’s insurance, needed restoring before the fire. Its pipes require re-tuning and the leather valves have begun to perish.

On top of that, it now needs taking apart to clean out the soot.

Although an insurance payout would cover the cost of cleaning, the church will have to foot the bill for a specialist to put the organ back together.

The organ was built by Peter Conacher in 1860 for the Brunswick Street Wesleyan Church in Huddersfield.

It remained in West Yorkshire until the Wesleyan Church had to be demolished and moved to Liverpool in 1950 to replace St Anthony’s organ that had suffered during air-raids.

It is hoped the organ’s pneumatic workings will attract the attention of assessors from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF).

The Diocese plans to apply to the fund in the coming weeks for a grant to complete the work. Estimates before the fire put the cost of repair at £245,000.

Father Graeme Dunne, St Antony's parish priest, fears without the grant the organ may lie uncleaned and unplayed.

Fr Dunne said: “If we can’t get the grant, there’s no point in having it cleaned. It’s playable, but it’s not as fine as it should be. It will stay in-situ and look pretty, but it will deteriorate.”

The church cancelled all functions until August, having previously cleared the diary until June.

This has meant six brides will have to find different locations for their wedding and a further four are in danger if work does not go to plan.

Cleaning and restoring the walls and ceiling – which need professionally decarbonating – will take longer than thought.

The only way to reach the high ceiling – one of the country’s highest unsupported ceilings – is to erect scaffold around all the walls and suspend workmen in cradles. The scaffold will take two weeks to put up and a further fortnight to dismantle.

Fr Dunne added: “When you saw how little fire damage there was, I hoped it would be quite a reasonable and easy job, but because of the size of the church and the fact that it’s a Grade Two listed building, it’s just become more complicated.”

benschofield