TWO years ago a blaze ripped through a church which has stood at the heart of the Test Valley community for nearly 1,000 years.

Early on a Sunday morning villagers in Timsbury woke to find that their beloved St Andrew’s Church was engulfed in flames.

Faulty wiring in the vestry is said to have been the cause of an inferno which threatened to destroy the medieval church.

Dating back to the 11th century it had withstood plague, famine and civil wars and had been a place for faithful people in the Hampshire countryside to gather.

And now it has withstood a fire too when it officially re-opened on Sunday with an evening service.

Canon Revd Steve Pittis, Rector of Braishfield and minister for the 12th century church welcomed the congregation once again with the Bishop of Southampton, Jonathan Frost.

Church warden Catherine Baker said: “We’re delighted about it. We’re very, very happy with it. There’s still things going on but we’re pleased with it.

“Having been in exile for two years having been back in there you just forget that you’ve been away for so long. The pews are hundreds of hundreds years old and you feel like you’re part of the continuation of the church.”

On Sunday March 9, 2014, villagers watched in disbelief as flames and smoke billowed out of the church.

Catherine remembers hearing the “cracking of the roof and the tower”.

“It was just so shocking,” she said. “It was unbelievable. I couldn’t get anywhere near to the church because all the tiles were popping off the roof from the pressure inside.

“It was devastating, all day we couldn’t believe it.”

It was only the due to the swift action of scores of firefighters that the church, and its contents were saved.

They managed to save some of the church’s treasures, including an irreplaceable 1613 chained Bible.

But the tower and historic wooden vestry at the West End were “completely destroyed”.

The bell had fallen through and smashed the font before it had melted.

A 13th century wooden chest was badly damaged and the limestone font, with graffiti from 1681, was severely damaged, possibly beyond repair.

The beautiful West Window, in memory of Bill Watkinson, a much-loved churchwarden and regular member of the church for over 60 years, was destroyed.

Days after the fire insurance firm Ecclesiastical assessed the damage and, with architect Gary Seymour of Seymour and Bainbridge in Winchester, got to work restoring it.

Gary said: Right at the beginning we had 18 inches of debris to sift through. We went through all the debris and made a note of all the things we could salvage.

“It quickly became clear that the tower had gone and in other areas things had fared rather better. It was an opportunity for the church to think about what they would like for the future.”

Some of the charred timbers remained in place while new ones were built next to it.

New flooring and new lighting has been put in.

The glass of the West Window was “swept up” and restored to former glory by the artist who created it.

Gary said the restoration of the church was “a great achievement for everybody involved”.

Catherine said how important the church has been to the community.

She said: “I have been a church warden for 20-something years now. As soon as I moved here in 1986 it’s been such a big part of my life. There’s such a great amount of respect for this building. They recognise the joy that this building brings.”