This 700-Year-Old English Church Nearly Closed—but Then the Vicar Discovered a Stash of Gold Coins Under the Altar

Just before Easter, a box of gold bullion minted in the 1990s changed the outlook for a tiny congregation struggling to cover costly repairs

Sonja Anderson | Daily Correspondent

July 14, 2026 2:26 p.m.

The church was built around 1300. St. Wilfrid’s Church in Melling

Just before Easter, a vicar and a parishioner in northern England were preparing their church for one of its final worship services. The tiny congregation of St. Wilfrid’s in Melling, Lancashire, was unable to pay for the 700-year-old building’s urgent, expensive repairs.

“As we took the altar frontal off, the wedding kneeler was underneath and I noticed a plastic bag sticking under it,” Reverend Jane Lee tells the Times of London’s Kaya Burgess. “When we took it out, there was a box in it with a note.”

Inside the box were nine gold coins: 1999 Britannias—bullion produced by the Royal Mint—each with a face value of £100. The box also contained a note, written on Salvation Army-branded stationary. Dated to July 16, 2022, it reads, “Hi there, I’d like to donate these nine gold Britannias to Melling church—the plastic bag identifies a Bullion dealer.” Signed: “James, servant of the living God.”

“We were both absolutely flabbergasted,” Lee tells the Times. “We couldn’t believe it. We both burst into tears. You know, it was just like a miracle.”

easter — A worship service St. Wilfrid’s Church in Melling

At the time of the discovery, St. Wilfrid’s was in the process of closing, as the five-person congregation could not raise sufficient funds to repair the roof and other parts of the old building—a roughly £750,000 job—reports BBC News’ Roger Johnson and Lynette Horsburgh.

“We were struggling to keep our doors open,” Lee tells BBC News. The church was “in a bit of a pickle.”

St. Wilfrid’s is composed of weathered masonry and stained glass windows, with a bell tower and adjacent cemetery. The site has likely hosted a church since before the Norman Conquest in 1066, but the medieval St. Wilfrid’s, named for a seventh-century monk, was constructed around 1300. This was during the reign of Edward I, also known as Edward Longshanks. The king conquered Wales and organized the Model Parliament—the basis of the United Kingdom’s modern legislative organization.

It turns out the four-year-old anonymous donation found at St. Wilfrid’s is part of a pattern. A local church official tells the Times that three churches and a school in the region also received numismatic gifts around the same time. The donor’s identity remains unknown. Lee tells the Times, “I haven’t got a clue.”

The congregation of St. Wilfrid’s sold the bullion for just under £30,000 (about $40,000): a “seed,” Lee tells BBC News. The profits constitute a drop in their fundraising bucket, but church leaders hope their story will lead to further funding, reports the Lancashire Telegraph’s Findlay Brown. After the news broke, a heritage group formed, focused on fundraising for the church’s preservation and restoration.

Fun fact: Big Ben's cousin

St. Wilfrid’s has a clock made by Edward Dent, who won the commission to make the clock for the Houses of Parliament, now known as Big Ben, reports the Times of London’s Kaya Burgess.

“That’s now not just the little congregation fighting to make this happen,” Lee tells the Telegraph. “We’ve got a wider community behind us who are willing to help.”

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