Major works will be needed after a large tree came down in a churchyard during a storm.
St Anne's Church, in Oldland Common, had a yew tree which was around 400 or 500-years-old growing in the churchyard.
However, the large tree came down during a storm in January and the damage caused is still visible now.
Richard Bryant - a member of the church council - said the yew tree brought down part of a retaining wall, at the time blocking the lane which gives access to the church and a couple of houses.
They had to get the lane cleared and the tree stump removed, Mr Bryant continued, adding they had now been left with a big gap in the wall.
He said: "We have a number of yew trees, but this one was the biggest and almost certainly the oldest, so lots of us are really sad to see it go.
"It was not a total surprise given its age, but we didn't think it would go this way."
Mr Bryan said fixing the retaining wall would be a major job, but they hope the insurance company will cover the costs.
He added the works may involve clearing a significant amount of graves, which are all more than 200-years-old.
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"We will have to follow Church of England rules so we would have to start advertising to try to trace down the descendants of the people buried there," he continued. "We do not know how many graves will be affected yet, but we think it is going to be a significant number."
