A HUGE painting of the Madonna and Child set against a backdrop of Ilkley moor is to watch over baptisms at an Ilkley church.

St Margaret's Church, on Queen's Road, has gained a £4,000 regional arts lottery grant towards its commission of a 10ft by 8ft oil painting, which is hoped to take pride of place in the baptistry at the west side of the church.

It will be painted by Ilkley-based artist and member of the congregation, Graeme Willson, who works from his studio at Castle Hill.

The commission is expected to cost around £10,000 and is hoped to be completed by the end of 2003. Mr Willson's work appears in many churches, including York Minster.

Member of St Margaret's parochial church council, John Baggaley, says work on the painting is hoped to start soon, and it could be completed and in place by the end of 2003. As a condition of receiving the arts grant, the church is expected to hold an exhibition to show the painting to members of the community, and organise talks about the project.

Preliminary designs for the painting feature the Madonna and Child, with St Margaret appearing on one side John the Baptist on the other - and will be set against the background of Ilkley Moor.

Mr Baggaley said: "The church has always been a patron of the arts and St Margaret's is a very fine Victorian church by the architect Sir Norman Shaw. We thought it would be appropriate to add something in the 21st Century to the church by this very special member of the congregation, Graeme Wilson. He has undertaken many religious works and we're very excited by this project."

The Grade II listed building was built in 1878, and provides a venue for regular concerts.

"This must be one of the biggest art commissions by people in Ilkley for some time. The thinking behind it is that the church has always been a patron of the arts, and we felt that having such a distinguished artist as a member of our congregation, we ought to commission him to go ahead and do this for us," said Mr Baggaley.

Before work on the painting can begin, the church must gain permission from the Diocese, as well as from English Heritage.

St Margaret's was one of 21 organisations in the Yorkshire and Humber region singled out for a share in £398,100 from Yorkshire Arts' Regional Arts Lottery Programme. Yorkshire Arts awards more than £2million each year to arts projects through the RALP scheme.

Regional executive director of Yorkshire Arts, Andy Carver, said: "These projects and the artists involved in them will produce some outstanding work will then be experienced by thousands of people in our region."