AN appeal for somebody with a head for heights is being made after a winter storm brought down a century old weather vane from a village church tower near Wellington.

The wind vane, topped by a cockerel, had stood atop St Peter’s Church, Langford Budville, since 1911.

It was thought to have been installed to celebrate the coronation of King George V in June that year.

Churchwarden Laurian Cooper said: “The points of the compass landed near the church door, but the cockerel went nesting in a gulley on the roof and was retrieved a few days later.

“The cockerel is dented and peppered with gunshot, which apparently is a very common condition for wind vanes.

“It will need attention.”

Mrs Cooper said cockerels were believed to have been used on church weather vanes in reference to the Last Supper, when Jesus warned Peter would deny Him three times before the cock crowed.

The cockerel then served as ‘a reminder to the faithful’.

It was also once believed that on the Day of Judgement, the cockerel would summon the dead from their graves and rouse the living.

St Peter’s is part of the benefice of Trinity and Saints, Ash Priors, Fitzhead, Halse, Milverton, and Runnington, served by the vicar the Rev Helene Stainer.

Ms Stainer said: “We are having to find somebody suitable to repair it, as it was damaged as it fell from its perch, so it may take some time to get it returned to its former lofty position.”

She said fund-raising might be necessary to cover the costs and a skilled volunteer could be needed to reinstall the weather vane.

The pipe organ in St Peter’s is also currently undergoing a six-week restoration after being dismantled last month and its pipes stacked between pews, requiring the church to kept locked all day.