THE High Sheriff of Warwickshire, Janet Bell Smith, unveiled a commemorative plaque at St Michael's Church, Whichford, after the congregation held a service celebrating its patronal saint.

Members of St Michael's have over the last five years been able to undertake £75,000 worth of urgent repair to the Grade I parish church, thanks to the generosity of two local families: the Holmers and the Herrtages. The plaque in a lasting reminder of the families' gift.

The sculptor of the plaque, Fergus Wessel, has just been commissioned to do the Shackleton Monument in Westminster Abbey. With this he will become the only artist/craftsman to have his work in both St Paul's Cathedral and the Abbey - and now in St Michael's Whichford. His studio is at Milton under Wychwood.