Lychgate at St Peter's Church in Bournemouth damaged by tree

The historic lychgate outside St Peter's Church in Hinton Road received minor tile damage on Saturday, April 23, after a large rotten tree branch snapped and fell with another branch onto its roof.

One resident described the sound of the tree crashing down as a “loud prolonged rumble” which echoed across the area.

Dannie Sheppard said: “At 2.30pm, and without warning, an enormous rumble was heard echoing through the high street like the sides of a cave. The loud prolonged rumble continued for what felt like an age.

“A short investigation in the general direction of the noise confirmed it was a tree within the grounds of St Peters Church that had two large limbs detach and fall to the ground damaging the historically valuable lychgate at the church entrance.

“The debris completely blocked the entrance to the church but luckily no one was using it at the time, also there was no one waiting at a nearby bus stop.”

Lychgate at St Peter's Church in Bournemouth damaged by fallen tree branch

The arch, which was put on the National Heritage list in 1974, received minor damage to the half-hipped gable of the tiled roof.

Reverend Ian Terry, of St Peter’s Church, told the Echo he discovered the damage the following day and that the debris was promptly dealt with.

He said: “The lychgate may need some attention but thankfully there was no major damage. We’re lucky because it could’ve brought the whole thing down. I think the worst is that some tiles have gone but that can be fixed.

“Our churchyard team have been doing some wonderful things with the Dorset Wildlife Trust over the last two years to turn the grounds from an overgrown area into a neat and well-ordered place.”

Reverend Terry added the church would hire a tree surgeon to inspect all trees in the churchyard during the summer to prevent any more incidents.

He invited anyone who wished to help finance the maintenance of the church grounds to email him at ianterry@live.co.uk for more information.