PENNIES from heaven have rained down on a New Forest church thanks to a £50,000 trust fund left by a local millionairess.

The recently-published will of Anna Audrey Crossley, who is a distant cousin of Belinda, Lady Montagu, reveals she left behind an estate valued at £1,243,589 - part of which has gone to All Saints' Church in Dibden.

Keen naturalist Miss Crossley, who died aged 96 on April 2 this year, spent her whole life at The Garth, in Beaulieu Road, Dibden Purlieu, and was a regular attender at All Saints' sister church, St Andrew's.

However, the interest from the trust has been bequeathed to the upkeep and maintenance of the All Saints' churchyard where her family grave is.

Lady Montagu, of New Farm House, Longdown, attended Miss Crossley's funeral on April 14, although the pair were not very close. She said: "She was very interested in the New Forest and was of a generation of women who were very interested in the countryside."

Rector of Dibden John Alderman, who knew Miss Crossley - known as Audrey - for seven years and took her communion every month, said: "A lot of people leave money to the church in which they worshipped as a reflection of their faith in God. "We were very surprised that she had left that amount of money to us.

"It's a great help in maintaining the churchyard and as it's a trust fund the interest will be available year after year."

Miss Crossley, who never married, also left £50,000 to the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds.

RSPB spokesperson Andrew South described the bequest as "excellent news."

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