FRIENDS of the ancient Church House at South Tawton will be keeping their fingers crossed during the coming weeks, in the hope that major funders will look favourably at the Grade II* Listed building.

The Church House dates from 1450 and is of national importance ? but it needs re-thatching and with investment could prove a huge draw to visitors and provide even greater community use.

The building?s management committee is hoping to raise a total of £350,000 for the refurbishment project.

This figure received a welcome boost last week, when Dartmoor National Park Authority approved a grant application towards re-thatching the building.

Deborah Griffiths, the DNPA?s head of archaeology and historic buildings, said the Church House was an important building.

?It?s very special because of the way thatchers in Devon re-thatch roofs,? said Ms Griffiths.

?They take off the top few inches and replace the top, so the base coat doesn?t get disturbed.

?Devon has the most surviving mediaeval thatch in the country because of this and what make the Church House special is that it?s smoke blackened.

?This means there has been an open fire on a hearth stone, rather than in a fire place, and the smoke has blackened the thatch and the beams ? which is very rare nationally.?

She said church houses were originally built as a combination of a brewing house and ?a place to party?.

However, once it became illegal for churches to brew beer, many of the church houses were sold off.

?The Church House at South Tawton is unusual in that it?s still owned by the church. They don?t brew beer any more but the two big rooms are used by the community,? said Ms Griffiths.

?It?s quite unusual to find one that?s been under the same ownership all these years,? she said.

The DNPA has offered the Friends of the Church House £3,173 towards the £12,700 required to re-thatch the building.

David Youle, project manager of the Church House management committee, said: ?It?s more than double what I asked for, so I am delighted.?

He said the committee hopes to hear within the next six weeks if a major application to the Heritage Lottery Fund has been successful. The aim is not just to re-thatch the building but completely restore it, installing new oak floors, stone mullioned windows and create a proper interpretation centre and guide book.

?It?s a very fine building which has seen a lot of history. There was the brewing, six families lived in it when it was a poor house, it was a school ? it?s a very interesting place,? he said.

?We have a thatcher lined up for the autumn, so even if we didn?t get the Lottery funding, we will still re-thatch it, but if this does come off, it will be wonderful ? we have quite big plans for using it but at the moment, it?s a case of waiting,? said Mr Youle, who said thanks to the splendid support shown by the community, £12,000 had already been raised in the last year.