Church Warden Bill Hicks walks on the nave roof of the Holy Trinity Church in Stratford-Upon-Avon, England. The church in which William Shakespeare is buried needs $6.3 million worth of repairs, notably to the 14th century tower and the 18th century spire, background.

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STRATFORD-UPON-AVON, England — Adopt a gargoyle. Sponsor a spire.

It could help save the 800-year-old Holy Trinity Church, where William Shakespeare was baptized and where he lies buried with his wife, Anne Hathaway.

Church officials hope fans of the Bard around the world will help raise $6.3 million needed to repair a cracked spire, broken windows and eroding bricks — and address damage from years of dry rot.

"It's absolutely desperate," said Josephine Walker of the Friends of Shakespeare's Church, which is in charge of fundraising. "It's raining, and ... rain is pouring in through the clerestory windows."

It's a common story in the parishes of England, where hundreds of medieval churches need loving care. The Church of England estimates $680 million worth of repairs are under way or urgently needed, and few of the crumbling churches have connections to anyone as famous as Shakespeare.

The Friends of Shakespeare's Church already has an American fundraising arm — but church officials are concerned by the drop in Britain's tourist numbers following the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks and more recent terrorism alerts. The number of U.S. tourists fell 13 percent from 2000 to 2005, when 4.2 million Americans visited Britain, according to government figures.

Catherine Penn, one of the trustees of the Friends, said urgent work had been done to repair the crumbling parapet, but donations from tourists have dropped for other repairs at the church, in Stratford-upon-Avon, 120 miles northwest of London.

She urged supporters to "sponsor a gargoyle" to help the fund.

Shakespeare was baptized at Holy Trinity on April 26, 1564, and its burial register lists him as "Gulielimus, filius Johannes Shakspeare," (William, son of John Shakespeare.)

After a career writing and staging his plays in London, Shakespeare retired to Stratford in 1611, and was buried in the chancel — an area near the altar — on April 25, 1616, two days after his death.

Some 100,000 people visit Holy Trinity every year to view his resting place, with its inscription, "Will Shakspeare, Gent." The memorial was erected a few years after his death, and the plump likeness on the gravestone is considered a good one.

Shakespeare's prominent burial spot was not in honor of his supreme literary skill, but because in 1605 he bought privileges in the church which, among other things, obliged him to keep the chancel in good repair. But within a few years of his death, the structure was in danger of becoming one of the "bare ruined choirs where late the sweet birds sang" mentioned in his Sonnet 73.

Repairs now are needed to the spire, the chancel, the north and south aisles, and the north and south transepts.