A wooden beam holding up the roof directly above William Shakespeare's grave is rotting away and urgently needs repairs costing about £50,000.
Parts of the beam at Holy Trinity Church in Stratford-upon-Avon started to crumble when workmen carrying out other repairs went on to the roof.
The church is visited by thousands of people every year.
Rev Martin Gorick said the church was open but the beam was in a "perilous" state and appealed for funds.
The beam is the main beam of the church's chancel roof.
"We are doing a huge phased set of restoration works," he said.
"We have already raised £750,000 and spent that on three enormous projects here.
"For the £50,000 we need we are looking to our friends, friends we know and friends we don't yet know, to help."
A donation website has been set up.
The Royal Shakespeare Theatre, which is close to the church, is currently undergoing a rebuild at an estimated cost of £100m, and should be completed next year.
Advertisement
Nick Higham reports on the campaign to repair Shakespeare's burial site
This page is best viewed in an up-to-date web browser with style sheets (CSS) enabled. While you will be able to view the content of this page in your current browser, you will not be able to get the full visual experience. Please consider upgrading your browser software or enabling style sheets (CSS) if you are able to do so.
Bookmark with:
What are these?