A brand new garden - that was three years in the making - has been opened in the shadow of St Helen's Church in Ashby.

The new garden is to the rear of the church's heritage centre - and would have been ready in 2020 but for the Covid pandemic.

It was opened by the Mayor of Ashby, Cllr Rita Manning, this summer - in an event that was described as a 'landmark' to recognise the work put in to complete it.

But the work was put in by a team of volunteers led by Heritage Centre Garden Project Co-ordinator, Andrew Chapman.

Andrew told Ashby Nub News: "In 2017, the Heritage building at St Helen's was opened.

"It was a small cottage building, but then National Lottery community funding came in for it to support the work of the church.

"And this became the Heritage Centre with an extension attached to the old cottage.

"But because of the ancient nature of the ground in Ashby, the archaeologists had to come and they had trenches dug down, and there are artefacts on show in the building.

"They found a load of stuff, going back to the early days of the Grammar School.

"But to dig down, it meant that all the soil was heaped on to the garden. There was nowhere else for it to go.

"So we started work on the garden in Spring, 2018, and it's taken us three years - but without Covid we would have completed it 12 months ago.

"The opening in July felt like a landmark, having put these three years of work in."

The garden also received £5,000 in funding as one of Ashby Co-op's local causes and the money was received in 2019.

North West Leicestershire District Council also awarded the Heritage Centre a grant.

But it is not always going to be open to the public for now.

With the Heritage Centre being let out for various functions, it means it will not always be available.

"We might need to look at how we organise it, as the centre is let out to community groups," added Andrew,

"When we first set it up and were deciding what to put where, we sent out a questionnaire to the community as to the sort of thing they'd like, we took note of what people wanted.

"We also have some gazebos which we can use as an option in the garden.

"The next stage is working out when people can come in."

• As part of Hello Heritage, free guided tours of St Helen's Church, in Ashby, are taking place this Saturday, September 11.

Tours are at: 10am; 12pm; 2pm

There will also be a chance to get refreshments after with a pop-up cafe on site.

There will also be nature themed heritage trails in church and around the churchyard, a Church Mouse trail and a calligraphy exhibition in the Heritage Centre.

St Helen's Parish Church is a 15th Century building which has significant links to the heritage of the town and to the adjacent 15th Century Ashby Castle.

It is a popular visitor attraction which features in the town's heritage trail.

The site on which St Helen's stands has been a place of worship since the 11th Century.