STAFF at a Swindon church have proved the old saying "one man's rubbish is another man's treasure" following the auction of an inconspicuous-looking table.

The table, discovered in a shed at the back of the Christ Church Parish Office in Cricklade Street, was originally valued at few hundred pounds.

But there were some stunned faces when it eventually fetched £42,000 when it went under the hammer.

The table was found in early November last year during a clear-out, work started on new flats behind 42 Cricklade Street.

Ailsa Palmer, a member of the Parochial Church Council said: "We had to empty the shed and get the site cleared.

"The table itself was not impressive at all, it was completely unremarkable. It had been in the church for a time, then it was moved to someone's garage and then it was moved to the shed."

Staff at the church decided to get it valued just out of interest and when Dreweatt Neate put a price tag on it of between £300 and £400 it was put up for sale to raise money for church funds.

At the firm's auction at Donning-ton Priory, near Newbury, on November 24 the final bid for it came in at £42,000. It was one of 391 lots at the auction, of which 199 were items of furniture.

The table, made out of mahogany, was made in Ireland during the 18th century. It has four legs, standing at about 3ft high and 5ft wide, and probably once had a marble stone top.

Elaine Binning, a furniture valuer at Dreweatt Neate in Newbury said she could not comment on the identity of the buyer because of data protection.

However, she added: "There was a lot of interest in this item because of the number phone lines we had to open.

"The buyer clearly knew what they after, you don't part with £42,000 on a whim."

Daphne Hardwick, churchwarden at Christ Church, said: "Everyone at Christ Church is in shock. Nobody can believe how much money was raised, we were all very surprised. It makes you wonder what treasures we might have in our own sheds and attics."

Most of the money has been put into church funds and the Christ Church Skyline Appeal.

A £7,000-slice of the cash will be donated to the Tsunami Appeal, in addition to the £5,500 that has already been raised by the congregation and the local Old Town community.

The Rev Simon Stevenette, vicar of Christ Church, who is about to undergo further treatment for Hodgekin's Lymphoma, said he was delighted with the news.

He said: "We thank God for this money, which will benefit the disaster relief and the Skyline Appeal. We pray that we might use the proceeds wisely."

Why the price went so high

THE Evening Advertiser spoke to a number of antique buyers and dealers across the area.

Although they didn't want to be drawn on valuations or why the table made so much money, they did say it was likely that an Irish dealer or collector may have been behind the purchase because of high demand for items of Irish national heritage.

The high-realised price of the item may have been the result of the country's Celtic 'Tiger' economy, which has sprouted as a result of strong growth since it joined the European Union and the single European currency, giving many people improved wealth and the means to return the heritage to the Emerald Isle.

Anthony Osborne