MORE than 100 volunteers helped build a Viking stave church with cardboard in West Kirby.

As part of the Lost Castles project, the new church is more than 20m tall and has been created from 1,300 flatpack cardboard boxes.

An army of volunteers turned up to Ashton Park to help construct the stave church on Thursday, August 9 and will be able to view until Sunday when it will be toppled and demolished.

Volunteers are also being invited to help trample the boxes which formed the structure - with all cardboard recycled after the event.

On Saturday, August 11 a family fun day will be held from 10am to 5pm where the cardboard stave church will provide a spectacular backdrop for free Viking-themed activities and demonstrations, led by real-life Vikings, Wirhalh Skip Felagr.

Wirral Council leader Phil Davies said: "Lost Castles is a fantastic example of how the six boroughs of Liverpool City Region are working together to enrich our communities.

"We’re proud to be part of this ambitious project which, as well as being a great cultural experience, will bring people together as they join forces to build these incredible creations.

"Wirral’s ‘lost castle’ is about celebrating the borough’s unique Viking history and Norse connections – the area is thought to have been almost a Viking state in its own right with its own borders, customs, trading point and language.

"We want residents and visitors to be able to explore how these shipbuilding ancestors might have lived, worked and worshipped by creating an impressive Viking stave church in Ashton Park at the heart of West Kirby, Norse for ‘the West Village of the Church’.

"During the weekend, it will be a spectacular backdrop for family activities, led by real-life Vikings.”

Lost Castles is the first cultural project involving the Liverpool City Region which will see hundreds of volunteers work with renowned French artist Olivier Grossetȇte to create monumental structures based on medieval forts or historic structures which were in the region at one time.

Plans for the project began during workshops between July 31 to August 3 at West Kirby School which saw dozens of volunteers come together to construct the building blocks which will form the incredible structure.

As well as Wirral’s structure, constructions in Liverpool and Sefton and Knowsley, St Helens and Halton will be built on site.

Once the creations are completed, a programme of family friendly free activities will take place across all locations ranging from street theatre, storytelling, live music and even appearances by a dragon or two.

The project has been made possible thanks to support from Arts Council England and is supported by the City Region Combined Authority, and the Global Streets Strategic Touring Programme.

For more information and to find out events visit www.lostcastles.co.uk