A ‘magnificent’ stained glass window that needed to be repaired for some 60 years has finally been fixed, at a listed Crowthorne church that has benefited from government grants.

St John the Baptist Church is among those that the government last month announced had received help from a fund to conserve listed places of worship.

The church has undergone extensive repairs, some of them supported by the listed places of worship grant which covers VAT. Government figures show St John the Baptist Church in Crowthorne has received £733.03.

READ MORE: £250,000 grant helps All Saints Wokingham renovation

Last year, St John’s was finally able to repair a hole in a Victorian stained glass window that had been shot with an air rifle in the 1960s. More urgent work – such as replacing the roof and an ‘ancient’ heating system – meant the church couldn’t commit the money to fixing the window.

But for its 150th anniversary last year, St John’s finally had the window fixed.

Stephen Pope, a member of the church who has helped to oversee the renovations, said the window is ‘a magnificent single light window of the Madonna and Child’ and ‘an excellent example of Anglo-Catholic iconography.’