The restoration of an Enfield church ceiling has uncovered a "wonderful" inscription to Queen Victoria.

Conservation workers cleaning the chancel ceiling in St Mary Magdalene’s Church in Windmill Hill last week found an inscription dedicating the paintings of religious figures to Queen Victoria when they were completed in 1897.

The ceiling is currently undergoing a £100,000 restoration following water damage 12 years ago and workers are carefully removing more than a hundred years of dirt and soot that had covered the inscription.

Reverend Gordon Giles said it was “wonderful” to rediscover the inscription during Queen Elizabeth II’s diamond jubilee year and the restoration work will now be dedicated to the current monarch when it completes in May.

He said: “It was a delightful discovery. It had always occurred to us that the restoration would coincide nicely with this year’s jubilee, but we had no idea that there was a link to Queen Victoria.

“We’ve written to Queen Elizabeth to let her know about the link and that we will be rededicating the paintings to her to mark her diamond jubilee, but she hasn’t got back to us yet.”

The church was built in 1883, completely funded by Georgiana Twells, the wife of Philip, MP for the City of London. The couple lived at Chase Side House, with the modern Town Park as their back garden.

After the completion of the church, her final gift was the chancel paintings, by artists Buckeridge and Westlake, but the paintings gradually deteriorated over the years.

Rev Giles added: “More than ten years ago water got into the roof and damaged the paintings and we’ve wanted to have it redone since 2000, but it took us ten years to raise the money.

“We do want people to come and look at it once it’s finished and I’m sure it will look fantastic once it’s been restored.”

The project was given a £50,000 grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund to get started, but the church is still trying to raise another £20,000 needed after workers discovered more damage than first thought.

For more information or to arrange a visit to the restoration work, contact Rev Giles on vicar@saintmarymagdalene.org.uk