A WOODCARVER from Broad Chalke has carved a model of Salisbury Cathedral and his village church to the same scale to commemorate 800 years of the Magna Carta.

Geoffrey Hitchings used lime wood for the carvings with the cathedral taking six months and involving around 480 windows and over 100 buttresses.

He said: “Both the cathedral and All Saints Church were completed in the 13th century, when the Magna Carta was sealed.

“I was so enthusiastic at the beginning that my wife had to call me in for Christmas Day lunch although I didn’t go back out after that.

“Thank goodness I was like that though because by the time I reached the end, I was getting so fed up with it!”

Mr Hitchings began wood carving 15 years ago and makes everything from motorbikes and eagles to walking sticks.

He carved the two models to the scale 1mm to each foot, basing the cathedral on plans for a cardboard version and being helped by a television programme.

He said: “I was helped greatly by the young lady on Blue Peter who went to the top of the spire one year to change the light bulb - I videoed that and I was able to simply freeze-frame the scenes so I could count the number of buttresses.

"I actually made the cathedral three years ago but hit upon the idea of making the village church to scale and putting them together to commemorate the Magna Carta anniversary."

The models are on show throughout July at the village hub and shop in Broad Chalke.