A SURPRISE legacy left by a woman who was a Catholic priest's teenage housekeeper nearly a century ago will likely provide £100,000 to restore the roof of a Pickering church.

Nellie Tobin - who became affectionately known as Auntie Nellie to the congregation of St Joseph's Church and to many of Pickering's residents - moved to Pickering from her hometown of Leeds, in 1914, as a 16-year-old housekeeper to the church's first priest, Father Henry Bryan.

Because the parish was poor, he could only afford to pay her in the form of a bar of chocolate each week, says today's parish priest, Father Bill East.

Now, faced with a £150,000 bill to replace the ageing slate tiles on the roof, Fr East has discovered that Nellie, who died at the age of 100 three years ago, left about £100,000 to St Joseph's.

She had been recommended for the post of housekeeper by an aunt who was a nun in a Leeds convent, Nellie disclosed when she was interviewed on her 90th birthday by the Gazette & Herald.

When Father Bryan first arrived in Pickering, the town had only about a dozen Catholics, many of them poor, said Father East. He set about founding a school, which he built just behind the church, but it was not until 1911 that St Joseph's was built.

The congregation gradually grew and he became a legend in Pickering, eventually retiring in 1938. Nellie remained his housekeeper when he moved to Eastfield Road, Pickering, until his death in 1940. She then went to work as a housekeeper for a Leeds doctor but returned to Pickering in the 1950s.

The lack of funds in the early years meant that Father Bryan and housekeeper Nellie had to live in the tower of the church.

"It's said that she could look down into the church from the tower and knew just when Father Bryan was finishing his service and would then prepare to his lunch," said Father East.

Nellie herself recalled in the interview: "Life was very hard in those days. I lived in a room in the church tower until the presbytery was built in 1932."

When he died, Father Bryan left Nellie a legacy and the interest was used to provide her with an income.

"We are delighted and very grateful that it appears the church roof will benefit from her will," said Father East.

"Unfortunately, Nellie died shortly before I moved to St Joseph's but she was held in very high regard and was much loved by many people in Pickering."

One of Nellie's proudest possessions was a diploma from the Pope, when she celebrated her 100th birthday, and it is now hung in the church.

The windfall from Nellie's will will compensate for a big blow from English Heritage, which refused to provide a grant for work on the church roof, despite St Joseph's being a grade two listed building, said Father East.

Renewing the church roof, which has suffered from the heat of hot summers and generations of winter frosts, will coincide with the centenary of the founding of the parish of St Joseph's in 1904 and several events are being planned to mark the occasion, said Father East.

While Nellie's bequest will provide the church with the lion's share of the money needed to replace the roof, there will still be a big shortfall, says Father East.

"Most of it will have to come from the generosity of our congregation and hopefully the people of Pickering but I'm sure we shall raise the money because the town is very generous."

Anyone able to help Father East's appeal is asked to ring him on (01751) 472727.

Updated: 09:17 Monday, December 22, 2003