PRINCETOWN church is to be restored to its original nineteenth-century condition over the next three years and will be re-opened to the public.

Though still consecrated, it will not become a place for regular services again, but could host them occasionally with the agreement of the Bishop of Exeter. Concerts and flower festivals are among the other ideas which have been proposed.

A Christian study group was hoping to take over the church and could still be interested in making use of it.

St Michael and All Saints — the only church in England to have been built by prisoners of war, French and American prisoners in the Napoleonic War of 1811-14 — was taken out of service in 1994 as unfit for public worship.

Since late last year hopes have been rising that the intended transfer of the property to the Churches Conservation Trust from the Church of England could rescue the historic building from its decaying plight.

Earlier, the best chance had seemed to be that it would be made safe as a roofless ruin and then left — an idea which dismayed some local people.

The church is in such poor condition that it it understood it may need £500,000 spent on it.

The building is Grade 11 listed and the work has to be carried out to exacting conservation standards.

The trust, which took over the building from the Church of England on January 8, is in the process of making an estimate of the cost.

The trust has put the first phase of the repair out to tender and hopes that work will begin in April. Contractors have already begun looking around and making an assessment of the task.

It could take around six months to clear the walls inside the tower of algae, which have grown there because of the damp, and restore the walls with traditional mortars. There will also be a new roof.

In the second phase the exterior of the nave and chancel will be tackled and in the third and final phase the builders will turn to the interior.

A trust spokesman said it would then be re-opened to the public and local organisations could be invited to use it.

The trust is funded 70 per cent by the Department of Culture, Media and Sport and 30 per cent by the Church of England. The project has been approved by the Dartmoor National Park Authority.

Captain David Swales, the lay Anglican minister who used to take services at the church, welcomed the news of the restoration.

'I am very pleased that it is slowly beginning to happen,' he said.

His congregation, which was only 10-15 people in 1994, has combined with the Methodists at their church in the town in an ecumenical partnership which he said was working well.

They have a combined congregation of around 20. Capt Swales did not expect the Anglicans would return to St Michael's.