ONE of Winchester’s iconic buildings has shown a new face to the city.

After nine months of scaffolding hiding its Victorian façade the Baptist Church on City Road has revealed a new look and a new colour.

Gone is the dirty cream with its cracked and crumbling render to reveal a modern look with blue/grey and white highlighting the details of the building.

Gordon Lockhart, the church secretary, said: “For a number of years we have been battling with damp and made the decision in 2018 to rectify this issue. We appointed local architects Seymour Bainbridge to prepare the necessary documentation and in March 2019 commissioned RV Dart and Son Builders of Romsey to undertake the works for us.

“The work involved removing all the old render, allowing the elevation to dry out before new render was applied and decorated. As with any work to old buildings there were surprises along the way such as finding there was very little structural support to the balcony.”

Rev Marcus Dickinson, the minister, thanked residents and businesses of City Road for their patience with restricted walkways and closed pavements during the work.

Mr Dickinson said: “We hope that people like the new look and have already received many favourable comments. If anyone would like to see the inside of the building (which has not yet been renovated) then we would be more than happy to show you around, our offices (in Swan Lane) are open, Tuesday to Friday mornings.”