Antiques Roadshow experts Christopher Payne and Lars Tharp ‘Raise the Roof’ in Edith Weston

Two experts from The Antiques Roadshow brought local history to life with quirky and comical tales to help illustrate the past.

Christopher Paye and Lars Tharp, known for lending their furniture, sculpture and ceramics expertise to the long-running TV show, exchanged good-humoured banter in front of an audience of about 100 people in Edith Weston Village Hall.

Christopher, who lives in the village, said the event on Thursday last week (May 3) raised about £2,300, with proceeds going towards the upkeep of St Mary’s Church.

“It went swimmingly, and what we presented seemed to go down very well with the audience,” he added.

During the talk he drew attention to panels in the village church, which were created by Sir George Frampton. Frampton was more famously the sculptor of the Peter Pan statue that stands in Kensington Gardens in London.

Christopher and Lars also shone a light on the remains of a propellor from a First World War Sopwith Camel from RAF Wittering that shot down a German zeppelin, as well as bringing in references to the first sighting of the Australian coast in 1627.

“We managed to cover one-thousand years of history and had good laughs along the way,” said Christopher, who enjoyed researching artefacts and their historical context ready for the evening’s entertainment.

The sell-out evening was called ‘Raise the Roof II’ and followed an initial fundraiser five months after St Mary’s lost its lead roof to thieves in June 2018.

A tin roof has since been installed but the church, which dates from the 12th Century.