THE gates of St Michael, Princetown, are swinging open again this week to welcome visitors into its grounds to the historic church on Dartmoor built by Napoleonic War prisoners in the early 19th century.

The cast iron gates, supported by granite pillars have been restored to their former glory after a major refurbishment project by local contractors.

Their restoration was all part of a £25,000 project, which was funded by a legacy left to the church and was commissioned by the parochial church council in association with the Churches Conservation Trust.

Six weeks ago the two ton gates were taken down. Since then Hatherleigh company Right Angle blasted off all the existing rust and paint back to its bare metal. The gates were then transported to Princetown Forge, specialists in bespoke, English heritage and traditional wrought-smithing, who gave them a complete transformation. They replaced the rotting frame and undertook a major repair on the wrought iron work before applying no less than seven coats of paint to protect the gates from being exposed to the notorious, extreme weather on the high moors.

Then there was the tricky job of hauling them, with a crane, back into their original stone fittings and welding the iron overthrow and finials — a task that was completed last Friday.

The Rev Preb Nick Shutt, the rector of West Dartmoor Mission Community, said he was delighted the gates were back in place and praised the work-manship and quality of the restoration.

He told the Times: ‘This is a really good project — the entrance to any church is so important. Although the Churches Conservation Trust takes care of the church buildings itself the burial ground is still used by the local community.

‘This is an historic building and to maintain our heritage is so important.

‘We try to preserve it to the highest standards and for the enjoyment of the thousands of people who come and visit St Michael’s each year.’

Rev Shutt also thanked the co-operation of the Duchy Estate which facilitated the sale of a small parcel of land for a peppercorn price.

John Page, the project’s conservation surveyor on behalf of the church, was also delighted to see gates, once more, adorning the entrance to St Michael’s.

He believed the original gates date back to around the 1860s.

John said: ‘What makes this project special to me is that it was lovely, as a surveyor, to work with the church and the community and see local, skilled tradesmen and smaller contractors being used to do this specialised work. It is also a good thing that the funds spent on the project are going back in to the local community.’

Gary Sharman, one of the Princetown Forge workers, who lives in Princetown, said: ‘I’ve had people in the village asking me when the gates are going back, so its great they are finally in place.

‘They have been looking in pretty poor condition before so its good this work has been done and the gates are back in working order. I remember painting them 25 years ago and I was told that they hadn’t been painted for 45 years before that!’

As part of the project the granite wall has also been repointed by stonemason Chris Legg from Norris Green, near Calstock.