A DERELICT 18th-century Grade Listed II chapel in the heart of Malmesbury has been bought for the town for more than £150,000, almost a year after campaigners thought they had lost the chance to own it.

Thanks to unexpected offers of extra money, The Friends of Athelstan Museum (FOAM) have bought the historic Moravian Church opposite the museum after they were beaten to its sale in August.

Joint project leader Roger Griffin said: "We have now successfully purchased the Moravian Church, something which we tried to do 18 months ago. We had some donors appear unexpectedly so we went back to the people who bought it and sent them an offer.

"We are looking to do up the church and renovate it, which we expect to take to take approximately a year. I don't think it will be a horrendous figure and I think it will be something we can achieve but the costs will depend on what we have to do but I suspect the project will cost about £100,000."

Last year, more than £100,000 was pledged from supporters, friends and local businesses to revive the church, which was described as a 'jungle' by the project leader.

The group now has the opportunity to renovate the church, which still has many of its original features, including a well, and use it as an extension for the museum.

Mr Rogers added: "We have rescued it for the town and we don't want to move out of the museum but this building is just across the road so we will be able to use it for a variety of things.

"We will be able to use it for educational purposes for school children because 60 children in the current museum can be difficult and we also hope it will be very useful to the whole community."

Since buying the property, originally repossessed from art collector Frank Faryab in 2013, FOAM has gone back to everyone who originally promised cash to help with the project – with everyone so far agreeing to come up with the cash.

"We would obviously like to thank our donors as we have had some extremely generous amounts and they are still coming in," said Mr Griffin. "When we did this 18 months ago people pledged and we are asking them to honour those pledges. No one has given less than their pledge and some people have even given more.

"Of course we have to thank the members and volunteers of the museum who are are a wonderful group of people who have done a tremendous job."