'ROBBED' medieval church tiles to rival those found in England's great plundered abbeys and priories will be restored to their former glory. 

The Church of St John the Baptist in Claines, near Worcester, is in the process of being re-ordered, including work to install toilets, which meant the 'exquisite' tiles had to be removed on Monday.

READ MORE: Work to restore Malvern's world class medieval stained glass

The tiles may have been removed from Worcester Priory during the Dissolution of the Monastries by which Henry VIII disbanded monasteries, priories, convents, and friaries in England, Wales, and Ireland.

Reverend Jo Musson completed a Wing Walk to raise funds for the project and grant funds are being sought for the work at the grade II listed church.

Meanwhile, Vanessa Gunter is running 1,066 miles to help raise funds for the church and research into ME/CFS. The significance of the distance is to reflect that there has been a worshipping community at Claines for 1,066 years. 

Rev Musson said: "We have now come to the stage where we can begin to break through the archway in the entrance porch to the vestry which is where the new toilets will go. The problem was that at some time in the past, a small collection of medieval tiles was installed in the North porch entrance. The panel is made up of thirty-eight whole tiles and nine fragments and they are exquisite.

"Today is an exciting day for us, as it marks the first actual works taking place in the building and I am grateful to everyone who has enabled us to get to this stage.

"The next step is to excavate a large hole for the sewage plant and for this we will have an archaeologist on hand in case anything of note is unearthed.

"The installation of the toilets will take place during the summer. I cannot tell you how embarrassed we are to have to tell visitors that we have no toilet in church, people just don't imagine it. Toilets are not the only improvement we have planned though, this is just phase one of the church re-ordering project. Phase 2 will involve installing a kitchenette and servery, AV equipment and interpretation about the history of the tiles, the church and the churchyard."

Another major restoration project is also underway in Malvern where urgent work is taking place to restore, protect and fortify the medieval glass of Great Malvern Priory - which ranks among the best in England.

Sir George Aston Webb restored the church at Claines in 1886/87 and added the north aisle, porch, and vestry in the same style.

Lesley Durbin from Jackson Conservation reported 'in the 12th and 13th centuries medieval tile makers were often itinerant, moving their place of work to the location where they were needed, many kiln sites have been excavated in abbey and priory ruins. 

She has informed the parish that fifteen of the tiles found in the Claines collection are recorded in the British Museum catalogue as being also found at Meaux Abbey, Beverley, near Hull.

"This does not mean that the Claines tiles came from Meaux, it simply means that the design of these tiles also travelled to Meaux.

"Also found in the Claines collection are designs the same as tiles found at Lilleshall Abbey, Dunmow Priory, Coventry Abbey, Glastonbury Abbey and Keynsham Abbey. Parish churches did not usually contain expensive tiles such as this at that time, but there were two very active local kilns during the medieval period, one at Great Malvern and one at Droitwich and it is likely that the Claines tiles originate from there, having been 'robbed' out of Worcester Priory during the dissolution of the monasteries."

To support Vanessa Gunter's fundraising efforts visit https://www.justgiving.com/campaign/Challenge1066