A £200,000 organ could finally be playing hymns in a Wolvercote church next month after it arrived in half a million pieces.

An appeal to raise the money for the organ in St Peter's Church, to improve weekly services, was launched more than two years ago.

The generosity of the congregation and a few small grants has seen the target reached and its many pieces - including 808 pipes - arrived last week.

Val Tate, chairwoman of the St Peter’s organ appeal committee, said: "Most of the money has come from the incredible generosity of the congregation and the people who live in the village and we are incredibly grateful to them.

"We allowed people to sponsor a pipe – of which there are 808 – and many have done so in memory of loved ones they have lost.

"Some have sponsored a pipe for their children and an information book will be released with all the sponsors written in it."

Ms Tate has sponsored 17 pipes, and if you were to play those pipes in a certain order it would play the first line of her favourite hymn Tell Out, My Soul.

It will replace the previous pipe organ which was 110 years old and had reached the end of its natural life before being removed as part of the First Turn church’s redevelopment project.

Dorset-based organ maker Robin Jennings, who has also made organs for La Scala in Milan, the Sultan of Oman and St Paul’s Cathedral in London, began constructing the pieces in September 2015.

Earlier this year the committee visited Mr Jennings' studio to see the project's progress ahead of its arrival last week.

Ms Tate said: "The organ has arrived now and builder is taking on the job at the moment.

"It's really beginning to take shape, I don't know how long it's going to take but hopefully just a few weeks."

The Wolvercote resident hopes it will attract more people to the church and enable it to hold a number of concerts in the coming years.

A revised target of £208,000 was set earlier this year and the church have appealed for the final £2,000 to be raise before the final invoices are due for the organ at the end of the year.

In the months before the appeal launched in September 2014 the church completed a four-year redevelopment project which saw the construction of new community rooms, a parish office, a refurbishment of the interior church and a glass corridor to link them.

The newly-installed Bishop of Oxford Steven Croft will lead a Dedication Service on Sunday 11 December and all are welcome to attend.