A project to create replicas of religious statues at a church on Caldey Island has successfully been completed.

At St. David’s Church, it was discovered a couple of years ago that the figures of Our Lady and St. John, high up in the church, were infested very badly with woodworm.

The figures were removed and Mr. Greg Richards from Caldey Island sourced a professional wood carver to create replicas.

The lady who undertook this commission was Sharon Littley, of Heartwood School of Woodcarving.

Once the 80 cm high figures were carved and returned to the island in September 2016, it was found that Christ on the cross, too, had woodworm and the infestation from him would so easily transfer to the new figures.

A decision was taken to have Christ renewed and Sharon took him back to her workshop to create a replica, taking hundreds of measurements to ensure the new figure was a perfect replica.

The rood that the cross and the figures sat on was cleaned to reveal unseen paintings on the side and the four stations around the cross were also repainted.

“Quite a number of my woodcarving students welled up with tears when they first saw the face of Christ that I’d given him,” said Sharon. “This was very satisfying for me as it confirmed that I had sympathetically recreated the effect of the suffering in Christ’s face.”

At the beginning of April, Sharon returned to Caldey and painted all that needed to be painted in the church. On Friday, it was time to take Christ to Caldey so that all three statues could finally be positioned in place on the rood and cross.

Added Sharon: “I am so pleased to have been asked to do these commissions and am grateful for the assistance given last weekend. It is a lovely feeling to know that the statues should be around for many years to come, especially as I treated all of them with a woodworm preventer. I hope visitors to St. David’s Church will enjoy the sight of the statues as they walk through the church and I hope readers of your newspaper will enjoy the story behind the photograph.”