Historic Churches 2015

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THE BUILDING CONSERVATION DIRECTORY SPECIAL REPORT ON HISTORIC CHURCHES Twenty-second Annual Edition ISBN 978 1 900915 77 9 PUBLISHED BY Cathedral Communications Limited High Street, Tisbury, Wiltshire SP3 6HA Tel 01747 871717 Fax 01747 871718 Email admin@buildingconservation.com www.buildingconservation.com

CONTENTS 2 6 11

MANAGING DIRECTOR Gordon Sorensen

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EDITORS David Boulting Jonathan Taylor

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PRODUCTION & ADMINISTRATION Lynn Green Lydia Porter

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ADVERTISING Nicholas Rainsford Carla Winchcombe

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THE GREAT EAST WINDOW OF YORK MINSTER

Andrew Arrol and Sarah Brown

HEAVENLY MUSICIANS or JOLLY TROUBADOURS?

INTERIOR DECORATION and PERMEABILITY

Mark Parsons

CHURCH BRASSWORK

Will Murray

METAL SHEET ROOFING and its substitutes – a brief history Tony Redman

TYPESETTING xendo

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PRINTING Optichrome

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The many companies and specialist groups advertising in this Building Conservation Directory Special Report have been invited to participate on the basis of their established involvement in the field of building conservation and the suitability of some of their products and services for ecclesiastical buildings work. Some of the participants also supply products and services to other areas of the building market which have no application in the building conservation field. The inclusion of any company or individual in this publication should not necessarily be regarded as either a recommendation or an endorsement by the publishers. Although every effort has been made to ensure that information in this book is correct at the time of printing, responsibility for errors or omissions cannot be accepted by the publishers or any of the contributors. © Copyright 2015 Cathedral Communications Limited All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recordings, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of Cathedral Communications Limited.

COVER ILLUSTRATION Finial of a brass chancel screen at Bristol Cathedral – see page 23 (Photo: Jonathan Taylor)

£5.95

C O M M U N I C A T I O N S

LEDGER STONES

Julian Litten

Interpreting medieval corbel sculpture Richard Halsey

PUBLIC RELATIONS Elizabeth Coyle-Camp

CAT H E D RAL

WOODEN CHURCHES OF THE RUSSIAN NORTH

Richard Davies

MAINTENANCE CO-OPERATIVES

Kate Streeter

FOR THE RECORD Documenting church conservation and repair work Peter Aiers

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HISTORIC CHURCHYARD YEWS

Toby Hindson

FUNDING IN PARISH CHURCHES

David Knight, Lisa McIntyre and Emily Greenaway

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USEFUL CONTACTS

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PRODUCTS & SERVICES

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INDEX OF ADVERTISERS

FROM THE EDITORS They say it takes a village to raise a child, but what kind of community do you need to save a historic church? The list of contributors to this 22nd annual edition of Historic Churches may provide the answer.

Writing about the wooden churches of the Russian north, Richard Davies is a photographer and author whose work is exposing the plight of these important and fragile buildings. Horticulturist Toby Hindson considers the ancient yews which grace so many of the UK’s historic churchyards, sometimes in spite of misguided past interventions. Architectural historian Julian Litten illuminates the history of ledger stones and calls on readers to join in the survey of these often overlooked church monuments.

Kate Streeter and Peter Aiers represent the amenity societies and trusts but their articles also highlight the growing importance of volunteers in church care.

David Knight and colleagues, advising on funding repairs, point to the role of both the Church and the grant-awarding bodies. Finally, Andrew Arrol, Sarah Brown and the other conservation professionals who have contributed to this 2015 edition, explain some of the vital, practical work by conservators of all types which sustains historic church buildings and their contents.

Against a backdrop of shrinking congregations it’s heartening to learn that the community of experts and volunteers involved in church conservation is thriving, not least because it draws on such wide-ranging resources of knowledge, skills and practical experience.

BCD SPECIAL REPORT ON HISTORIC CHURCHES 22ND ANNUAL EDITION

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WOODEN CHURCHES OF THE RUSSIAN NORTH Richard Davies

Church of the Virgin Hoddigitra (1763), Kimzha, Mezen district, Archangel region (All photos by the author)

C

HRISTIANITY WAS formally established in what is now Russia in AD 988. In Nestor’s Primary Chronicle we are told that Prince Vladimir of Kievan Rus was urged by envoys from neighbouring countries to adopt their faith. He was tempted by the Muslim Bulgars’ promise of beautiful women in paradise but ‘circumcision and abstinence from pork and wine were disagreeable to him. “Drinking,” said he, “is the joy of the Russes. We cannot exist without that pleasure”’.

Vladimir eventually decided to be baptised into the Orthodox faith and, as the chronicles tell, he ‘ordained that wooden churches should be built and established where pagan idols had previously stood’.

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Thousands of wooden churches were built all over Russia although many were later rebuilt in stone and brick as wooden churches became unfashionable. In the 1830s a German traveller noted that ‘the Russian country people take a particular pride in stone churches in their villages… nay its inhabitants would scarcely marry those of villages with wooden churches’.

However, in northern Russia, where wood was the most common building material, wooden churches were still being built up to the time of the Bolshevik revolution. The new and surviving ancient churches were often clad in white-painted boards and their aspen-shingled onion domes gave way to shiny metal ones to give the impression that they were spanking new stone churches.

BCD SPECIAL REPORT ON HISTORIC CHURCHES 22 ND ANNUAL EDITION

The north of European Russia grew prosperous over the centuries, exploited by the traders of Novgorod for its resources – fur and salt in particular. Its rivers and lakes were important trading routes and many settlements grew up beside them. Each town and village had its place of worship, traditionally not one building but three: a winter church, a summer church and a bell tower. Each city had its cathedrals and churches.

Monasteries and hermitages were built on the islands of the White Sea, on the islands in the vast northern lakes and in deep forest.

Kholmogory and later Archangel, on the Northern Dvina River, were the most important ports of medieval Russia and trade with the English and the Dutch

brought more wealth to the region. All this changed, however, with the building of St Petersburg by Peter the Great. With a port that remained ice-free for ten months of the year, St Petersburg became the window to the west and northern Russia became increasingly isolated and sank into obscurity.

During the mid to late 19th and early 20th centuries there was a revival of interest in the north, this time ethnographic rather than economic.

Leading historians, musicologists, artists and architects travelled to the north.

While working as an ethnographer in 1889, the artist Vasily Kandinsky described the peasants as ‘so brightly and colourfully dressed that they seemed like moving, two legged pictures’. In 1904 the artist Ivan Bilibin wrote of the bell tower at Tsyvozero, ‘she is living her last days, she has leant over sideways and trembles in the wind. The bells have been taken from her’ (110 years later she is still hanging on). The painter Vasily Vereshchagin complains, in 1894, of the neglect of the churches by the local clergy: I wish they had even a brief course in the fine arts at the seminaries. If priests who have responsibility for the old churches do not show mercy and unceremoniously demolish them, what can we expect from the semi-literate country fathers.

They are ready to sacrifice every ancient wooden church for a gaudy new stone church, embellished with manneristic golden baubles.

If the custody of the wooden churches by the priesthood was shoddy, their custody by the local Soviets after the revolution was catastrophic. The artist Ivan Grabar and the architect and preservationist Pyotr Baranovsky joined the campaign to save the northern wooden architecture. In 1921 Baranovsky undertook the first of ten expeditions to the north to study its architecture: In the villages on the banks of the Pinega there were so many churches that were ‘extremely miraculous’ that I decided that come what may, I would go up the river to its very source.

You arrive in a village and there are two or three tent-roofed church beauties, three-storey wooden houses, mill‑strongholds – and all of them first-class architectural masterpieces…

I don’t know anything more miraculous than Russian wooden architecture!...

It is hard to acknowledge the fact that the descendants of those who raised this miracle with their calloused hands, destroyed the glory of their great-great grandfather’s father.

Church of St Dimitrius of Thessalonica (1784), Verknaya Uftiuga, Krasnoborsk district, Archangel region

And destroyed they were, no wooden church survives on the Pinega river today.

Those that did survive in the north were used by the local Soviets as warehouses, grain stores, clubs, garages, dance halls and cinemas. Most were left to rot.

After the ‘Great Patriotic War’ against Nazi Germany and its allies, during which God had been reinstated

by Stalin to fight on the side of Holy Russia, there was an effort to restore the wooden churches that had survived. They were recognised as a great symbol of Russian culture, the culture that the Russian people had been fighting desperately to preserve.

In 1948 the architect Alexander Opolovnikov (1911–1994) supervised the restoration of the wooden Church of the Assumption at Kondopoga. With his team and later with his daughter Elena (1943–2011) Opolovnikov restored over 60 monuments of wooden architecture and much of what we see today, including the churches at Kizhi and the Cathedral of the Assumption at Kem, survives thanks to them. Opolovnikov also produced technical drawings of the churches and of their construction details that are great works of art.

With the break-up of the Soviet Union, funds disappeared and most restoration came to a halt.

STOPPING THE ROT

The first wooden church I visited, in 2002, was the 43-metre high Church of St Dimitrius of Thessalonica at Verknaya Uftiuga. I later learned that Alexander Popov, a student of Opolovnikov, and his team had spent seven years from 1981 to 1988 restoring St Dimitrius. They had completely dismantled the church, rotten timbers (15% of the whole) were replaced and then the building was reassembled log by log. The logs were up to 12 metres long and some weighed as much as two tons. Popov, like Opolovnikov, is very rigorous in his research and methods and at Verknaya Uftiuga he experimented with the local blacksmith to produce carpenters’ axes based on sketches of axe heads found by archaeologists in Siberia.

He was keen to use the same techniques and tools as the builders of 1784.

In 2011 I asked Mikhail Milchik, vice director of the St Petersburg Research Institute of Restoration and a great expert on Russian wooden architecture, to write an afterword to Wooden Churches: Travelling in the Russian North. He was not optimistic, his first sentence read, ‘Wooden Architecture, the most original and most unique part of the cultural heritage of Russia, is on the verge of extinction’.

Almost four years on I’m slightly

BCD SPECIAL REPORT ON HISTORIC CHURCHES 22 ND ANNUAL EDITION

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Church of the Transfiguration (1781), bell tower (1793), Turchasovo, Onega district, Archangel region

more confident of its survival (I hope Mikhail is as well). I have one or two reasons for believing this. Firstly, I am very impressed by the grassroots organisations that have been set up to record what has survived and other organisations that have been established, often on a very local scale, to do what they can to literally stop the rot. Water ingress is the main enemy of wooden buildings. When the joints are rotten, collapse is imminent. Local people have taken it upon themselves to repair the roofs of their churches and bell towers, to shutter windows and to clear out the detritus of years of neglect.

The organisation Obscheye Delo

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(Common Cause) was founded by Moscow priest Father Alexei, who spends his summers at Vorzogory on the White Sea with his family. He explains: When we first came here we suddenly heard the unexpected sound of an axe splitting wood by the abandoned bell tower. It was Grandpa Sasha, for years he had been patching and repairing the tower – he simply couldn’t bear the thought of it one day collapsing before his eyes. We were so inspired by his example, that we immediately offered our help and now, every summer, we work to restore the ancient temples of Vorzogory.

BCD SPECIAL REPORT ON HISTORIC CHURCHES 22 ND ANNUAL EDITION

Obscheye Delo has set itself the task of saving the wooden churches of northern Russia. Each summer its members, now in their hundreds, patch leaky roofs, prop up walls, clear undergrowth and dig trenches to act as firebreaks. Professional restorers will take their place in time but many of the churches and chapels being patched up by volunteers are having their lives extended for a few more years.

Money has been made available from private and public sources to restore churches. Alexander Popov is now working on restoration of the early 18th-century Church of the Saints Cosmo and Damian, near Lezhdam in the Vologda region. It had been

Local carpenters Alexei Malofeev and Mihail Mahnov at the Church of the Transfiguration, Turchasovo

Restorer Sergei Golovchenko, Turchasovo

New bells being founded for Turchasovo at the Shuvalov Bell Foundry, Tutaev, Yaroslavl region in April 2015

sitting neglected in the woods for many years but has now been dismantled and transferred to Popov’s workshop in Kirrillov. Another example is the 17th-century Church of St George.

Also abandoned in the woods, it was discovered beside the Northern Dvina River in the Archangel region in 1997 by the artist Ivan Glasunov. The church has now been professionally restored and re-erected at the Kolomenskoe Museum of Architecture in Moscow.

The Church of the Transfiguration (1781) at Turchasovo was in the process of restoration during Soviet times but that came to a stop with the break-up of the USSR. I first visited the church in

March 2006, when the snow was thick on the ground. The church and its bell tower stood magnificently above the frozen sweep of the Onega River. Svetlana the churchwarden opened the church for us, warning ‘Don’t stand under the dome, the birds will drop something revolting on you’. The windows were shuttered and it was dark inside as Svetlana told us about Alexei Sioutine, who works in Norway but whose mother was born in the village. He is trying to raise funds to finish the restoration and to hang bells once more in the bell tower.

When I visit again in 2010 the timber window shutters have been replaced with plastic sheeting and our need for care is

clear to see. Svetlana is saying prayers in the church every day, others sometimes join her and she is encouraging the children to take an interest in and to respect their church. By 2012 the guano has been replaced by a plastic sheet, the church has been cleaned with the help of the children and the restorer, Sergei Golovchenko, and others are working on the roof, cutting out the rotten wood where possible and laying down new timbers to keep out the wet. There is much to do and the village women have set up a canteen in a building donated by the community to keep the workers fed and tea’d.

In 2013, with Alexei Sioutine, we climb up through the mass of church timbers and out onto the roof to meet local carpenters Alexei Malofeev and Mihail Mahnov, who are continuing the work to make the church watertight. We look down on the bell tower, which still needs a set of bells, and over the great curve of the Onega River.

Alexei tells us that the work he is doing is illegal – the church belongs to the state, but the state is doing nothing, so if not him, then who? He can’t stand by and see it collapse before his eyes – another Grandpa Sasha. If I remember right the ageing sign stating that the church is under the protection of the state was still attached by a rusting nail or two.

I plan to visit Turchasovo again this summer, the bells have been cast and they will ring out again over the Onega River for the first time in over 80 years.

Acknowledgements The author would like to acknowledge the help of Matilda Moreton (co-author of Wooden Churches), Daryl Ann Hardman (co-founder with Richard Davies and Cathy Giangrande of the charity Wooden Architecture at Risk) and Alexander Moshaev (co-author of Russian Types) in the preparation of this article.

RICHARD DAVIES is a photographer and the author and publisher of Wooden Churches: Travelling in the Russian North (2011, below) and Russian Types & Scenes (2014). He has travelled extensively in northern Russia since 2002. www.richarddavies.co.uk

BCD SPECIAL REPORT ON HISTORIC CHURCHES 22 ND ANNUAL EDITION

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LEDGER STONES Julian Litten

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F YOUR church was built before 1800 there’s every possibility that it contains at least one ledger stone, a large black or white marble slab set into the floor and inscribed with the names of those interred in the brick grave beneath.

Sometimes known simply as ‘ledgers’, they can be highly decorative, incorporating the deceased’s armorial bearings, while others have a funerary motif such as an hourglass with wings or a death’s head wearing a laurelwreath. Most, however, consist simply of an inscribed legend without attendant relief-sculpture.

Whatever form they take, the genealogical information they bear is of paramount importance.

INTRAMURAL BURIAL

As a rule of thumb, ledger stones began appearing in churches in the 1620s. However, it was during the Commonwealth (1649–1660), when faculty jurisdiction was suspended, that the middle classes looked to the interior of their parish church as a place of secure burial. Permission for intramural burial would be sought from the incumbent, the individual deemed the most worthy arbiter of suitable candidates for such a privilege.

With the restoration of the monarchy in 1660 the practice of intramural burial was so established that the ecclesiastical authorities thought it best not to interfere, apart from requiring a faculty for the creation of a brick grave or vault (often simply a double width brick grave) and for the laying of the ledger stone, although in practice such faculties were rarely sought.

We shall never know precisely how many bodies have been buried within our medieval parish churches because burial registers were not introduced until 1538 (and most churches did not take up the practice until legally required to in 1598).

Few burial registers, however, give the

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Zinzano ledger stone of 1676 at Tilehurst, Berkshire: a fine ledger with carved armorial (Photo: Julian Litten)

location of the burial unless it was in the large dynastic vault of a noble family.

Nevertheless, a hint as to the differentiation between those buried in the church and those in the churchyard can be found in the burial register entries because those individuals afforded intramural burial almost always appear with a title of courtesy. Thus a ‘John Smith’ or a ‘Janet Smith’ would be churchyard earth burials, whereas ‘Mr John Smith’ or ‘John Smith Esq’ and ‘Mrs Janet Smith’ or ‘The Hon Mrs Janet Smith’ would be intramural burials.

With hindsight, understanding the usage of a church as a place for intramural

BCD SPECIAL REPORT ON HISTORIC CHURCHES 22 ND ANNUAL EDITION

burial would have been made much easier had Ralph Bigland’s recommendations of 1764 (see Recommended Reading) been carried out: Many grave-stones are often half, and others wholly covered with pews, &c. many also are broken, and by the sinking of graves not only inscriptions are lost, but the beauty of the church defaced; all these and many other evils might be remedied, in case every parish was obliged to have, in like manner as abroad, a monumental book, under the inspection of the minister officiating; for which purpose a fee should be paid: nor would it be amiss, if every parish had the ichnography of the church on a large scale, with proper reference to each person’s grave or family vault. This ought especially to be done when any old church is repaired, or pulled down in order to be rebuilt. (p79) Intramural burial was an expensive exercise. In addition to the fee paid to the incumbent for the privilege, one has to consider the cost of digging the grave, lining it with bricks to a depth of, say, ten feet for two coffin deposits, and the purchase, lettering, transport and laying of the ledger stone. Translated into today’s prices this could cost up to £25,000, which was a substantial outlay on the part of the purchaser and which, no doubt, explains why there are so few ledger stones in churches.

Indeed, the ledger stone phenomenon was short-lived, for the Burial Act of 1854 prohibited intramural burial in favour of municipal cemeteries, although there was a caveat in the act that where space was still available in a vault or brick grave constructed prior to the date of the act, it could be used until all of the space had been taken up at which time it would be deemed ‘full’. Generally, then, ledger stones were in use between 1625 and 1854.

TYPES OF LEDGER STONE

Most ledger stones are quite large, measuring 76 by 183cm, although as they were cut in the age of Imperial measurement this can be translated to 30 by 72 inches. Types of stone vary; the most common is black marble, although they were also available in white marble, Purbeck stone and Portland stone and there are also examples in cast iron.

Black marble ledger stones sometimes incorporate other coloured marbles, for example in the form of an inset roundel of white marble at the head end of the stone depicting the armorial bearings of the deceased. Some ledger stones have infilled lettering, usually of white mastic, while others have brass lettering and there are still a few which bear traces of gilding.

While most ledger stones are marble some are freestone (usually a local fine-grained limestone or sandstone), but in the main these were only used as temporary sealing stones. Many survive simply because the family had relocated.

Indeed, the majority of such stones were laid following the burial of a child during the early years of a couple’s marriage and while the grave was intended for further use this rarely took place if they had moved to another town. Unfortunately, freestone does not retain inscriptions well and many of the legends have now eroded.

INSCRIPTIONS

Ledger stone inscriptions are usually in English but some, particularly those commemorating the clergy, are in Latin.

There are also some Huguenot burials in City of London and Norwich churches whose ledger stones are inscribed in French, but these are very rare.

The standard legend begins ‘Beneath this stone lies…’ or ‘Here lies deposited the remains of…’ . It was standard practice for the font size of the name of the deceased to be larger than that of the rest of the inscription, sometimes in italics, and the usual initials denoting academic honours, such as ‘BA’ or ‘MA’, were frequently used, although the longer forms ‘Bachelor of Arts’ or ‘Master of Arts’ were occasionally used.

Some ledger stones begin with ‘HJ’ or the fuller ‘Hic jacet’, which means ‘Here lies’, although ‘HLD’, for ‘Here lies deposited’ is sometimes seen. The use of initials was, at least in part, a question of economy: the cost of cutting ‘HLD’ would have been far less than for the 17 letters of ‘Here Lies Deposited’ when one was being charged by the letter. Similarly, a Latin translation of an English inscription could land the purchaser with a bigger bill if it made the inscription longer.

Some ledger stones have exceptionally short inscriptions, but this does not mean that the lettering is any more crude than those with a longer legend. Probably the shortest would be the name of the deceased and the year of death, such as: JOHN SMITH 1801 whereas those which were to be read in association with an adjacent mural monument had simpler markings, such as: JS 1801 merely to indicate the place of burial.

Furthermore, if the mural monument is signed by a sculptor, that may give an indication of the artist also responsible for the lettering on the ledger.

LETTER-CUTTERS AND MASONS

The provision of ledger stones, particularly in the 18th century, was usually limited to letter-cutters working in the larger towns. Much of the black marble used was imported by merchant ships as ballast so letter-cutters’ yards were often based in ports. For example, the Stanton family of letter-cutters had their yard in Holborn, close to the wharfs along the commercial stretch of the River Thames. Similarly, Britain’s extensive system of navigable rivers and canals was used to transport the finished items to their destinations. Indeed the cost of transporting a heavy ledger stone to a remote rural church was almost the same as the cost of the stone itself.

The inscriptions usually begin with the name of the prominent male in the grave and it is not unusual to discover from the inscription that he died some years after the death of his wife, which is further evidence of the use of a temporary freestone ledger before the final one was put into position. However, there are examples of black marble slabs which have space left at the top for the primary name, which is an indicator that the husband married again and is buried elsewhere with his second wife. Subsequent inscriptions were usually cut in situ, which explains the use of a different ‘chisel’ or letter-cutter’s hand if the original letter-cutter was no longer in business.

Laying a ledger over a brick grave was a delicate operation for they were bulky and unwieldy items, frequently as much as 15cm (6 inches) thick. Once the temporary stone had been lifted and discarded, three or more wooden bars were placed across the width of the grave and eight men, holding the ends of four lengths of canvas webbing passing beneath the slab, would take the strain as the wooden bars were removed. The slab was then manoeuvred into position.

Densely packed ledger stones in the north choir aisle at Norwich Cathedral (Photo: Roland Harris)

18th-century ledger stones in the Church of St Thomas and St Edmund, Salisbury: chipped edges often resulted from the use of crow-bars to reopen a vault after the original burial. (Photo: Jonathan Taylor)

Subsequent re-openings of a brick grave can often be identified by the chips around the edge of the ledger stone where crow-bars were used to lift it onto wooden rollers for temporary removal.

LOCATION

The location of burial places in the church depended on the role and status of the individual being interred. Consequently, ledger stones over the graves of clergymen are usually to be found in the sanctuary or chancel, although some benefactors were also afforded that position. Prominent members of the community are usually found either in the centre alley of the nave or, if they required a more substantial vault, at the east end of the nave side

BCD SPECIAL REPORT ON HISTORIC CHURCHES 22 ND ANNUAL EDITION

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aisles or at the west end of the church. The spaces in the side alleys of the nave were usually reserved for wealthy bachelors and spinsters. This was merely a general rule and was not necessarily sacrosanct.

It also has to be borne in mind that many churches were re-paved in the 19th century and some architects were not averse to clearing all of the ledger stones into the churchyard. This was the case at Great Massingham, Norfolk when the architect Daniel Penning restored the church there in 1863. Many ledgers were merely transferred to the west end of the building, as at Saffron Walden, Essex in 1859–60 when RC Hussey restored that building. The fashion in the mid-19th century for elevating chancel altars on three steps saw the obliteration of some ledger stones, many of which are now only half visible, and heating programmes also saw the removal and re-siting of ledgers in the way of the heating pipes.

Late 20th-century re-orderings have also been responsible for ledger stone relocations, although perhaps the saddest cases are those where churches have decided to smother their floors with broadloom carpeting, thus obliterating the very presence of the ledger stones and making them almost impossible to record.

CARE

Ledger stones are easy to clean, although water should never be involved. The simplest and most efficient approach is to vacuum them, having first released the years of dust from the cut inscriptions by means of a medium-hard stencil brush.

That done, an application of beeswax will seal the stone and, once polished, will bring it up looking as good as it did on the day it was laid. From then on a weekly dust with a dry mop will suffice.

At all times it should be remembered that ledger stones are important items, for not only do they mark the resting place (in the main) of those they commemorate but they also contain valuable genealogical information on the deceased within the brick grave. They should not be used as a convenient hard surface for the stacking of chairs, nor for flower-stands, drumkits or sections of staging. Nor, worse still, should they be used as a convenient hard-standing for lavatory pods (as noticed recently in a church in Norfolk).

It is essential, especially in those more rural and isolated churches which do not have efficient heating systems, that they are not covered by carpeting.

In cold weather the burial space beneath a ledger stone gives up dew and it is not unusual for the stones to be powdered with dew-drops in the early morning. If

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Polished ledgers in the Bouchon Chapel, Norwich Cathedral (Photo: Roland Harris)

a church has laid broadloom carpeting over such stones then this will only lead to rapid decay of the carpet, so it is always prudent to let such stones breathe naturally or, if necessary, to cover them with rush matting.

THE LEDGERSTONE SURVEY

It has been estimated that there are about 250,000 ledger stones in England and Wales. The monumental brasses in the United Kingdom have already been fully recorded and it was in 2002 that the Ledgerstone Survey of England & Wales was established to do the same for ledgers.

NADFAS church recorders now include ledger stones in their church surveys but anyone can take part (see

BCD SPECIAL REPORT ON HISTORIC CHURCHES 22 ND ANNUAL EDITION

www.lsew.org.uk for more information and to download a copy of the recording form and guidelines). Recording ledger stones will give you hours of pleasant pastime, will help to document a much-neglected form of funerary commemoration and will, I trust, prove that ledger stones are not quite the ‘ugly duckling’ of the monument trade some would claim.

Recommended Reading R Bigland, Observations on Marriages, Baptisms, and Burials, Richardson & Clark, London, 1754 JULIAN WS LITTEN PhD FSA is the chairman of the Ledgerstone Survey of England & Wales, www.lsew.org.uk.

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BCD SPECIAL REPORT ON HISTORIC CHURCHES 22 ND ANNUAL EDITION

THE GREAT EAST WINDOW OF YORK MINSTER Andrew Arrol and Sarah Brown

T

HE REPAIR of York Minster’s Great East Window was a key part of a larger programme of repair and conservation to the Minster’s east front, which commenced in 2006.

It was completed under the subsequent York Minster Revealed project, which received generous HLF funding of £10 million.

The cost of fabric repair (masonry and glass) amounted to approximately half of the overall £20 million project cost.

York Minster Revealed was a five year project, allowing sufficient time for the remainder of the east front masonry to be repaired and conserved and for the Great East Window glass (and the windows of the adjoining fenestration) to be removed, conserved and then reinstated incorporating a new protective glazing system. Other parts of the project focussed on improving visitor facilities, creating a new below-ground exhibition space in the undercroft and forming a new approach piazza outside the south side of the Minster.

God the Father from the apex of the Great East Window

THE GLAZING

The Great East Window of York Minster, made between 1405 and 1408, is the largest expanse of medieval stained glass in England and one of the most ambitious glazing projects ever undertaken.

Depicting the beginning and the end of the Christian cosmos, from the Creation in the Book of Genesis to the Apocalypse and the Second Coming of Christ, it summarises the medieval perception of human history, which unfolds under the feet of God the Father (top) and the company of heaven.

While the Apocalypse had been a

popular subject in illuminated manuscripts, to depict it in glass and on this scale was extremely daring. The Chapter of York looked outside the city for someone with design abilities and entrepreneurial skills equal to the task and in 1405 contracted with the Coventry glazier John Thornton. While Thornton was required to paint only some of the glass himself, the contract stipulated that he was to ‘cartoon’ every single one of over 300 panels entirely with his own hand which, in the Middle Ages, meant marking up full-size working drawings on the whitened glazier’s table.

The complexity of the Apocalypse subject matter, in which each scene is a unique narrative, made this a particularly challenging undertaking, and while recent research by Professor Nigel Morgan has demonstrated Thornton’s familiarity with other Apocalypse imagery, the window is characterised by the originality and freshness of Thornton’s approach to the subject.

CONSERVATION CHALLENGES

General view of the Great East Window and the east front of York Minster

The window was last restored between 1946 and 1953 under the direction of Dean Eric Milner-White. With scant regard for the efforts of earlier restorers, Milner-White set about reordering glass within individual panels, removing many earlier restoration insertions.

Inadequate art historical research meant that some scenes were misidentified so that they were incorrectly restored ( see illustrations of Panel 5b, overleaf ) and returned to the window in the wrong location. The many holes opened up by the removal of 18th- and

BCD SPECIAL REPORT ON HISTORIC CHURCHES 22 ND ANNUAL EDITION

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Panel 5b following incorrect restoration by Dean Milner-White, who inserted a second beast in the centre of the panel constructed from miscellaneous fragments

early 19th-century stopgaps were filled with pieces of unpainted coloured glass, an honest repair which was easily distinguished but visually very disturbing.

The most aesthetically destructive aspect of the restoration was the use of thick (10–12mm) leads throughout the window, darkening the panels and disguising the delicate relationship between glass and lead achieved by Thornton and his collaborators.

Exploratory conservation trials undertaken by the York Glaziers Trust (YGT) between 2005 and 2008 reviewed a number of conservation options, ranging from a light overall clean, to the dismantling and full conservation of the panels, with the recovery of John Thornton’s cutline as one of several objectives. However, one over-riding priority was to install state-of-the-art ventilated protective (isothermal) glazing.

In step with the guidelines of the International Corpus Vitrearum (see Recommended Reading), no dismantling, reordering or restoration could be justified without thorough research. As a result, the forensic examination and recording of every piece of glass has been complemented throughout the project by in-depth exploration of the antiquarian and art historical context of the window.

The discovery of drawings and photographs dating from the 1730s, 1880s and c1939 has been essential to understanding the restoration history of the window. Above all, the meticulous description compiled in the 1690s by

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The panel following conservation in 2013: ‘And they adored the beast, saying ‘Who is like to the beast? And who shall be able to fight against him?’

(Revelation 13: 4–6).

antiquary James Torre has not only shed light on individual panels, but has confirmed the original panel order of this immense biblical narrative.

After long and detailed consultation with the Cathedral Fabric Commission for England and other statutory consultees, the Minster decided to proceed with the dismantling, conservation and reglazing of the window. This process was supported throughout by the guidance of Chapter’s East Window Advisory Group.

After careful cleaning to remove hygroscopic dirt, the dismantled glass pieces were closely examined for evidence of their original location in the panel.

Clues provided by edges which had been ‘grozed’ by the medieval glaziers (nibbled away with a hooked tool to fit snugly into the lead) were always invaluable evidence of authenticity and relationship to adjoining pieces. Also, indications of glass structure, corrosion patterns and traces of lost paint, observable through a binocular microscope, often confirmed the evidence of surviving painted detail, allowing multi-fractured and heavily corroded pieces to be reunited. Mending leads in obtrusive or lightly coloured areas have been removed whenever possible.

The epoxy resins Araldite 2020 and Hxtal NYL-1 have both been used for edgebonding, depending on the condition of the glass and the nature of the fracture.

Detailed criteria have been used to determine whether later stopgaps should be retained or removed, and those removed from the window have

BCD SPECIAL REPORT ON HISTORIC CHURCHES 22 ND ANNUAL EDITION

been recorded and retained as part of the project archive. Every process and decision has been meticulously recorded and new methods of digital documentation have been developed specifically for this project.

PROTECTIVE GLAZING

From the outset the East Window Advisory Group was clear in its view that the provision of protective glazing was the single most important contribution that modern conservation could make to the preservation of John Thornton’s medieval masterpiece.

In 1861 the Great East Window was provided with crude exterior glazing, first in the form of single sheets of glass and later by diamond panes or ‘quarries’. Two new glazing grooves were cut into the window mullions of the main lights. The exterior glazing was mortared into the outer groove. The original glazing position was abandoned and the stained glass was set into the new inner groove. The window was effectively double-glazed, with no ventilation between the outer and inner glazing. Advances in protective glazing design have demonstrated the importance of ventilation and this project provided the opportunity to significantly improve the system.

The new protection of the Great East Window will take advantage of the additional exterior glazing groove, but the system is governed by the principles of modern isothermal protective glazing (see diagram opposite). An interspace of

c50mm and gaps at the top and bottom of each light allow a constant air flow between the protective glass and the historic stained glass, ensuring that both surfaces of the medieval glass are kept dry. Although the efficacy of this kind of protective glazing has been tested in projects all over Europe (Bernardi et al, see Recommended Reading), the design of the east window installation was also informed by a year of environmental monitoring undertaken by Ivo Rauch.

A major development has been the decision to use Glashütte Lambert’s Restauro UV glass for the exterior glazing, a mouth-blown cylinder glass that incorporates effective UV protection up to 405nm. Restauro UV handles like any other mouth-blown antique glass but also protects light-sensitive materials, notably the epoxy resins used in edge-bonding, against light-induced alteration or discolouration. York Minster is the first building in the UK to use this extraordinary new glass.

The new protective glazing system, designed by YGT’s senior conservator Nick Teed and surveyor of the fabric Andrew Arrol, has eschewed the ferrous materials which can cause damage to stone, working with compatible bronze alloys that minimise the risk of bi-metallic corrosion. McKechnie Brass’s bronze composition Alloy 300

is being used for the manufacture of frames for the medieval glass, the integral support bars, T-bars and the rods from which the glazing pins are made. New T-bars will support both the exterior glazing and the medieval panels, each nearly one metre square.

The exterior glazing is seated on a T-bar and is mortared into the stone in the traditional manner. Each medieval panel will sit on an inner row of T-bars, and will be held firmly in place on the ledge of the bar with bronze pins. For safety, exhibition or future conservation, panels can therefore be removed easily and safely from an interior scaffold, leaving the exterior glazing in place as an effective weathershield. The medieval panels are framed in bronze Alloy 300 U-channel.

YGT’s Nick Teed has developed a new framing method which has moved away from the hot-working methods commonly used to connect components of the panel frames. Only traditional tin solder can be worked at a sufficiently low temperature to be used in proximity to medieval glass but YGT was seeking a stronger bond. The simple screw-fixed frame that Teed has developed can be assembled around the panel of historic glass, allowing maximum precision, greatly increased strength and an entirely reversible and recyclable use of expensive metal components.

PROTECTIVE GLAZING PRINCIPLES Interior Ventilation System . Inner face of protective glazing Any condensation will form on this surface e Outer face of stained glass This surface remains free of moisture due to constant airflow, maintaining an even temperature with the inner face of glass r Inner face of stained glass This surface remains free of moisture and at the temperature maintained within the building t The mounting of the stained glass with an equal space at the top and base of the lancet admits uninterrupted airflow from inside the building y A lead condensation tray at the sill will allow any condensation to run away to the exterior without damage to the stone u Small-gauge gravel within the upstand of the lead tray allows moisture to run off but resists ingress of air from the exterior NB: This illustration shows a common solution to an effective ventilated protective glazing system

(often known as isothermal glazing). Variations in treatment and positioning of the glass and the technical details of fixing are possible, depending on the space available and the nature of the building. It is important to consider the needs of each glazing scheme in context and on a case by case basis. © The York Glaziers Trust

STONEWORK

The masonry repair project began with a meticulous stone-by-stone assessment of the fabric leading to the compilation of detailed proposals for repair, replacement and conservation which had to be submitted to the Cathedrals Fabric Commission for England for approval.

From the outset the project was seen as a holistic design exercise, incorporating design considerations for the protective glazing and the integration of the conserved glass panels into the masonry work.

A very careful assessment was made of the overall geometry of the east front and in particular the distorted geometry of the window masonry, which leans out at an angle of approximately 2° from the vertical in an easterly direction. Northsouth movement (across the window) has also resulted in a 35mm wide crack at the head of the window. This, however, is relatively small, particularly compared to the overall outward tilt of the east front, which would have amounted to almost 1 metre had the upper parts of the facade not been reconstructed during the 18th and 19th centuries.

The four principal challenges arising from the repair and conservation of the east window masonry were as follows: • to devise an appropriate methodology for the introduction and indenting of new tracery elements into the window • to carry out extensive plastic repair, pinning and conservation to those tracery elements which were being retained • to conserve the intrados sculpture, which was all in poor condition as a result of 19th-century applications of linseed oil • to design and carve a new seated St Peter figure, which required a great deal of consultation and discussion.

STONE SELECTION

The basic building stone of the Minster is magnesian limestone which, over the years, has been sourced from several different local quarries. The original quarry source was Thevesdale, not far from Tadcaster where the current quarry source for the majority of Minster stone is located. Other historic quarry sources of magnesian limestone were the Huddleston group of quarries and the Bramham group of quarries. Stone is also taken from Warmsworth and has in the past also been supplied from Cadeby.

After detailed testing of previous medieval stone types and an assessment of contemporary quarry sources, the stone from Tadcaster has been selected as the preferred replacement stone with the best match to medieval stone.

BCD SPECIAL REPORT ON HISTORIC CHURCHES 22 ND ANNUAL EDITION

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View from scaffold of tracery section showing poor condition of stonework and diamond paned protective glazing installed c1925

MORTAR

The pointing and bedding mix is made up of naturally hydraulic lime (NHL 3.5, usually St Astier). The standard mix for general pointing uses one part sieved washed river sand (Nosterfield), one part Leighton Buzzard sand, one part South Cave sand and one part NHL 3.5 St Astier.

This mix provides an extremely wellgraded aggregate proportion which bears a very close resemblance to the colour and technical performance of the historic mortars used at the Minster. Where necessary wide joints are ‘galleted’ using shards of oyster shells to fill the gaps and reduce the area of mortar exposed to the weather, closely following earlier examples found on the Minster, some of which date from the medieval period.

Detail of a new tracery section ready for indenting: note grozed chisel finish to all surfaces

REPAIR WORK

The full size drawings and templating for every individual piece of stone were prepared by the Minster’s master mason and geometry and carving details were agreed with the surveyor of the fabric. The work was carried out in accordance with the ‘Current Stone Practice’ document, prepared by the surveyor of the fabric.

The document sets out a detailed methodology and specification for both conservation and new work.

The new tracery indents were secured in place using lead-poured joints, a technique used in the Middle Ages to create a rigid joint. These were then pointed up with the standard mortar. The surface tooling of all new stonework followed established medieval practice and all surfaces were carefully worked using a ‘grozed edge’ chisel, a form of claw chisel.

Almost every surface of the building

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Upper part of the Great East Window with masonry complete and protective glass in place

was covered externally with linseed oil during the 19th century and this has led to a surface consolidation process which can trap salts and sulphates in the outer zone of all external masonry elements. After a while this develops into a kind of ‘potato crisp’ which then snaps and breaks off.

Such surfaces were carefully cleaned with distilled water then stabilised with up to six applications of nano lime followed by shelter coating using limewashes emulsified with casein and a small amount of ochre pigment.

BCD SPECIAL REPORT ON HISTORIC CHURCHES 22 ND ANNUAL EDITION

The design of individual tracery elements involves a great deal of lobe and cusp work and many of the cusps and tracery profiles were missing as a result of weather and fire damage over the years.

Although traditional lime-based mortars are used for weathering and filling, where profiles need to be restored and/or rebuilt, a repair mortar with a greater degree of slump resistance is needed. Keim’s Restauro mortar system met this requirement well and the mortar can be chiselled and dressed when it has hardened. The product’s porosity and breathability also closely match those of the host stone. Lost profiles have therefore been rebuilt using these mortars with careful colour matching, and reinforced with either stainless steel wire or hollow ceramic dowels.

A HISTORIC ACHIEVEMENT

John Thornton’s 300-panel representation of the biblical Apocalypse in medieval stained glass was a ground-breaking achievement.

The task of meticulously recording, conserving and reinstating the Great East Window’s stained glass and stonework has brought together art historians, archaeologists, conservators and craftspeople. One of Europe’s largest and most complex conservation projects, the scale and success of this collaboration echoes that of Thornton and those who worked alongside him. And the results speak for themselves, as the quality and sophistication of John Thornton’s monumental design have re-emerged from centuries of obscurity, no longer ‘a glorious wreck’ but a magnificent work of art.

Recommended Reading A Bernardi et al, ‘Conservation of Stained Glass Windows with Protective Glazing: Main Results of the European VIDRIO Research Programme’, Journal of Cultural Heritage, vol 14/6, 2013 S Brown, Apocalypse: The Great East Window of York Minster, Third Millennium Publishing, London, 2014 Corpus Vitrearum, Guidelines for the Conservation and Restoration of Stained Glass, 2nd ed, Nuremberg, 2004 (www. cvma.ac.uk/conserv/guidelines.html) N Teed, ‘Bronze Framing for Historic Stained Glass: A New Case Study from the York Glaziers Trust’, Vidimus 88, Feb 2015 (vidimus.org/issues/issue-88/ feature-ygt) ANDREW ARROL is surveyor of the fabric for York Minster and a partner of Arrol & Snell Ltd (see page 45).

SARAH BROWN is director of the York Glaziers Trust (see page 10).

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BCD SPECIAL REPORT ON HISTORIC CHURCHES 22 ND ANNUAL EDITION

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HEAVENLY MUSICIANS or JOLLY TROUBADOURS? Interpreting medieval corbel sculpture Richard Halsey

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T IS one of the many joys of visiting older churches to discover the myriad details tucked away in odd places, such as the small-scale figures and creatures which enhance the ends of stone hood mouldings beside a doorway, or adorn the corbel supporting a beam, or are hidden within wooden roofs or carved on furniture.

The iconoclasts of the 16th and 17th centuries have ensured that hardly any large scale medieval figure sculpture survives in Britain’s churches and while Victorian sculpture can show marvellous craftsmanship and great beauty, restored architectural details can lack conviction to an eye trained on medieval work. Of course, that is partly because later work lacks that ‘patina of age’ which older survivals retain, an antiquity that can lend greater interest even when the original sculptural quality is not high. Centuries of built up limewash can make identification of some stone sculptures quite difficult and modern interventions do not always respect the character and setting of such antiquities either.

Church visitors today are often keen to track down a ‘green man’, a human head shrouded in foliage or with its features created from leaves and branches. The term was probably coined by Lady Raglan in 1939 in an article which she contributed to the journal of the Folklore Society.

Previously, the medieval scholar CJP Cave had written in 1932 about the hidden faces in the foliage bosses of Ely Cathedral Lady Chapel. The faces reminded him of the Jack-in-the-Green figure that could then still be seen in rural May Day celebrations.

Both authors explored the possibility that such sculptures were evidence of continuing pre-Christian myths (if not practices) in the Middle Ages, so that now the green man is often explained away as a pagan hangover.

Heads created from leaves, usually called ‘foliate heads’, are seen continuously on buildings and monuments across

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Corbel at the Bishop’s House, Ely

Europe from at least the second century.

Some fine examples are illustrated in the sketchbook of Villard de Honnecourt (c1230), unfortunately without any accompanying explanation. Like the rest of his drawings, they are intended to be aides-mémoires.

Other green man variations include heads buried in vine scrolls or with leaves sprouting from their mouths.

These too have a very long provenance in architectural stone decoration, especially

BCD SPECIAL REPORT ON HISTORIC CHURCHES 22 ND ANNUAL EDITION

on capitals. Rather than demonstrating the survival of paganism, the many English medieval examples can be seen as belonging to a long-standing tradition of depicting danger and evil. Woods were dangerous places in medieval England, easily associated with the devil’s work, and masons of each generation re-interpreted the tradition in their own style.

But to what extent was the mason responsible for the subject he was carving? Influenced by Victorian ideals,

A jolly troubadour or merchant patron at All Saints, Harston, Cambridgeshire

Angel musician at St Wendreda, March, Cambridgeshire

modern churchgoers and visitors might feel that using pagan, satirical, if not downright rude sculpture on a church is sacrilegious. While cathedral guides might revel in stories about masons hiding their little jokes from the foreman, in the end someone paid for the work and had an ulterior motive for doing so. It may have been rare for patrons like a bishop, abbot or earl to become personally involved at such a detailed level, but their project manager (with whatever title he held) certainly would, if only to ensure he wasn’t blamed if his master disapproved of the work or its cost. All we can be sure of is that the medieval mason was working within well-known traditions and to an overall scheme. As today, it can be difficult to attribute the precise source of an idea to one member of the design team.

Stone angel corbel at All Saints, Landbeach, Cambridgeshire

We can quickly identify biblical scenes such as the Nativity and the emblems of major saints, such as St Catherine’s wheel. Symbols of the Trinity or Passion are less well known perhaps, but is there a message in the small-scale figures, faces and creatures too? While literacy increased in the Middle Ages, the great majority of people entering a church would not have been able to read (and in any case, any script was most likely to be in Latin before the 16th century).

Medieval people certainly recognised many more scenes from the Bible than modern churchgoers, but there were plenty of other sources of inspiration for painted and carved decoration.

Hagiographical stories were also widely used to convey Christian messages.

Morality tales like the Three Dead Kings were also widely known, not least through the plays regularly performed by travelling actors and troubadours.

Although we may have overromanticised the imagery of church wallpaintings and windows as the poor man’s Bible, there is no doubt that a church building of whatever scale or pretension was full of meaning to everyone who entered it. Unfortunately, very few wrote down their thoughts. However, we do know a little more from the work of William Durandus who died in Rome in 1296. A canon lawyer with a long Papal career, Durandus became Bishop of Mendes, in the south of France. His book Rationale Divinorum Officiorum describes the origins and symbolism of churches and their ornaments in some detail. He explains that ‘the material

church, wherein the people assemble to set forth God’s holy praise, symboliseth that Holy Church which is built in Heaven of living stones’. Other writers also allude to church buildings as the House of God representing heaven on earth. Given the vast differences between churches and people’s homes, it is not difficult to see how this concept worked.

Durandus assigns attributes to different parts of the building, often linking them to quotations from the Bible. So the foundation is Faith, ‘which is conversant with unseen things’, the roof Charity, ‘which covereth a multitude of sins’ (1 Peter 4: 8), the door Obedience and the pavement Humility, ‘my soul cleaveth to the dust’ (Psalm 119: 25). The glass windows ‘are the Holy Scriptures which expel the wind and rain, that is all things hurtful, but transmit the light of the True Sun, that is God, into the hearts of the Faithful. These are wider within than without because the mystical sense is the more ample and precedeth the literal meaning.’ The latter is an interesting comment on the practical use of splays to admit more light through thick walls but it also illustrates just how differently medieval churchgoers saw and understood religious architecture in comparison to modern observers.

However, that concept of each church being an earthly image of heaven readily explains why roofs came to be extensively decorated with angels, with their principal timbers rising from corbels fronted by angels holding the symbols of the Passion, musical instruments or the coat of arms of the patron. Such angel corbels become

BCD SPECIAL REPORT ON HISTORIC CHURCHES 22 ND ANNUAL EDITION

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ubiquitous from the late 14th century across the country. In East Anglia, angels also peppered the roof; the hammerbeam roof of St Wendreda’s March has no less than 118 winged wooden angels ranged in rows along the wall-plate, completing the hammerbeams and perched centrally on the collars. The most visible are those beneath the standing saints against the wall posts, each playing a different musical instrument. Whether their function is to support the roof post or the saint seems to have been deliberately obscured to emphasise the floating nature of the roof as an image of heaven.

Even in much less grand churches, the principal roof timbers are frequently seen to be ‘supported’ by angels. In All Saints, Landbeach, north of Cambridge, there are 15th-century wooden, now wingless busts in the north aisle, some with scrolls, some in prayer. Because most of them emerge from clouds formalised into triangles, they are likely to be angels.

There is no doubt about the angels on the stone corbels beneath the south aisle timbers, because these have wings and play musical instruments (page 17, top right). The wooden busts were clearly added to the wall posts and although the posts stand on the stone corbels, neither type of corbel is structurally essential to

the stability of the wall post or principal roof timber rising from it. Indeed, there are many examples of wall posts or principal timbers left ‘hanging’ over windows. Stone corbels might provide an element of restraint if the roof ‘racked’ (a horizontal movement of the apex at right angles to the line of the trusses) and they were probably useful during construction. Clearly, however, corbels were also a neat way of visually linking a roof structure to the wall, helping it to seem part of the fabric of the building rather than just sitting on top of it.

The tradition of using carved stone corbels perhaps derives from stone vaults, although their ribs normally rise from capitals on wall shafts and these are usually foliate or moulded. However, Romanesque churches had external corbels below the eaves which have their architectural origins in classical brackets (and before that, the ends of roof timbers). Although most frequently carved as human heads, they could be animals, figures or grotesques. Explaining the relative lack of external decoration of churches in comparison with their interiors, Durandus writes: ‘for although its outward appearance be despicable, the soul which is the seat of God is illuminated from within’. It has therefore

been taken that the grotesques and gargoyles seen on church exteriors are there to defend the building (heaven) and those within it from ever-present evil by fighting the Devil with his own.

Nevertheless, demonic characters are also found inside. Bishop Northwold’s choir at Ely Cathedral (1234–52) has grimacing heads at the bottom of the extravagant foliated vault corbels at all four corners, carved by the same sculptor as the external corbels. As Revd Lynne Broughton argues in Interpreting Ely Cathedral (2008), they have been interpreted as reminders that although ‘the cathedral signifies the Heavenly Jerusalem, it is not yet Heaven itself’, so even in the most sacred of places ‘the darkness of evil has not yet been overcome’. The famous Lincoln Imp overlooking St Hugh’s shrine is a similar, if more mischievous, reminder.

This same interpretation must apply to those miniature beasties found tucked away in the spandrels of rood screens and on the cusped arches of monuments and sedilia (the canopied niches to the right of the altar). These fanciful creatures may well have been used by priests during sermons or for teaching.

More intriguing are the more obviously human figures seen on roof corbels from the late 14th century,

Menacing lion at St Mary’s, Whaddon, Cambridgeshire

Portrait bust of a patron at St Peter Mancroft, Norwich

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BCD SPECIAL REPORT ON HISTORIC CHURCHES 22 ND ANNUAL EDITION

A heavily limewashed angel corbel surrounded by electrical cabling

Grotesque secular busts at All Saints, Barrington, Cambridgeshire

at about the same time that angel corbels started to be so widely used. It might be expected that the Prior at Ely would not presume to decorate the corbels of his Great Hall with angels. Those now visible in what has become the Bishop’s House are first class sculptures of secular characters (page 16) and stylistically close to work seen in the cathedral octagon (completed 1340). Traces of colour grin through recent paint layers, reminding us that all these stone and wooden carvings were once highly coloured.

The church of Sutton-in-the-Isle just west of Ely and probably rebuilt by Bishops Barnet and Arundel (1366–88) has similar carved figure corbels (though harshly restored), giving the same impression of carrying the wall post on their backs.

They derive from classical ‘Atlas’ figures and were used in the Romanesque period, for example supporting the ribs of the chapter house at Durham.

Elsewhere in Cambridgeshire around 1400 such Atlas figures can be quite comical. At Barrington and Whaddon, the same mason seems to be following the Ely and Sutton style, but his faces can be quite grotesque and snarling lions (page 18, centre right) and winged demons now appear in the set. They also seem to be shouting at the congregation below (above).

Are they warning or denouncing? At Harlton and Harston a little later, the mood lightens with distinctly secular figures, some of them musicians, others gurning (page 17, top left). The faces seem standardised, but here and there is the suggestion of a portrait, perhaps caricaturing the mason’s workmate!

Portraits can be more confidently identified as such when a man and woman face each other or face down into the congregation from the corbels adjacent to the tower (as at Sutton) or rood loft, suggesting they are the patrons. A very fine set of medieval busts can be seen at St Peter Mancroft in Norwich (page 18, bottom left). Although sited on top of a castellated stone capital, they are actually of wood like the wall post above.

As elsewhere, such fine carvings have had lights and speakers placed up against them and the inevitable cabling can run around them like a noose (page 18, bottom right).

Thick layers of limewash obscure details although they can protect the corbel, especially when roof staining or chemical treatments are allowed to run down.

Not all stone corbels are carved to the highest standards and we have yet to fully understand what messages their sculpture was intended to convey. Full of character and interest, however, they are valuable survivals of medieval art and deserve both better care and wider appreciation.

RICHARD HALSEY FSA, now retired, was English Heritage’s faith buildings manager. He is president of the British Archaeological Association (thebaa.org) and maintains an active research interest in medieval architecture. Email richard@rhalsey.co.uk

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BCD SPECIAL REPORT ON HISTORIC CHURCHES 22 ND ANNUAL EDITION

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INTERIOR DECORATION and PERMEABILITY Mark Parsons

M

OST CHURCHES and chapels constructed before the first world war have solid masonry walls. When first constructed, these walls were breathable, inside and out, because they were built using permeable lime mortars and their interiors were usually lime plastered and finished with limewash. These simple lime-based materials helped the walls to dry quickly.

Following the development of fastsetting cements in the 19th century and of cheaper more durable synthetic paint systems in the 20th, routine repairs led to the interior surfaces of many churches being effectively sealed. As the long term consequences of this were not widely understood until late in the 20th century, few churches have escaped.

Typical results include areas of blistering and peeling paint, black mildewed north easterly and westerly corners, drip stains beneath wall-heads and valley gutters, and mildewed and stained stone window surrounds. Add to this the glossy sheen of the walls and the rusted-up window vents, and the church surveyor is faced with a virtual Rubik’s cube of related issues.

Today, when a churchwarden or PCC asks for advice on redecorating the church interior walls, the answer to this apparently simple question suddenly becomes extraordinarily complex. You cannot ‘simply’ restore a vapour permeable painted surface either ‘technically’ or in the case of more ancient structures ‘conservatively’. The advice given has to be based on an understanding of the church’s interior environment, whether damp, dry, airy or humid. The external condition of the church would require assessment before good advice could be given or the specification process begun. If this is a ‘one-off ’ commission or you are a newly appointed church architect, an initial inspection of the fabric is best followed by a study of past quinquennial inspection reports or possibly the church’s log book. These documents should provide information

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Lime-washed permeable walls of St Nicholas Church, Compton, Surrey with a simple medieval decorative scheme

on any ‘progressive’ repairs that have occurred and will help to identify longer term problems.

The level of ‘dampness’ in a church building is largely a result of the actions (and inaction) of its managers and occupants over time. This level is best expressed in terms of relative humidity (at 100% relative humidity or ‘RH’, air of a given temperature cannot hold any more moisture): churches typically average 80 to 100 per cent RH in the UK, with average internal RH readings of around 90 per cent being considered high. Drying rates are mainly affected by the amount of sunlight entering into the building, the movement of warmed air and the permeability of its fabric.

If the floor is impermeable to water vapour due to ground conditions or modern interventions (such as a plastic DPM and/or concrete slab, or impervious coverings such as rubber backed carpets) the result will, no doubt, be rising damp at the base of the walls and columns and the crystallisation of salts (efflorescence).

Poorly detailed and badly maintained roof abutment and drainage, together with general orientation and exposure, are often the primary sources of the rainwater penetration which causes internal peeling paints, salting, and ‘black spot’ mildew and plaster surface degradation.

BCD SPECIAL REPORT ON HISTORIC CHURCHES 22 ND ANNUAL EDITION

Poor ventilation can lead to condensation on painted wall surfaces, usually at high level in northerly corners and typically indicated by black spot mildew growth. White mildew is a powdery fungus which is more apparent on damp timber surfaces and appears on furnishings and ceiling boards. You may also see evidence of high humidity on window panes with wet surfaces and extensive green algal growth. Stone window surrounds will also be prone to black spot mildew. Ventilation of church interior spaces and suspended timber floor structures must be understood and action taken to maintain throughventilation.

Salting and surface paint loss can also be caused by an interaction between modern plasterwork and either open external mortar joints or those closed with hard cement mortars. Normally at high or low levels and around windows and door openings some re-plastering will have taken place using modern moisture absorbing plasters, which are generally termed ‘Carlite’ or ‘pink’ or ‘browning’.

These have been used as a quick low-cost solution to failing plasterwork at higher level (particularly over the chancel arch) or degrading and loosening plasters at low level. They are quick and easy to apply. Where wall plaster must be

PAINT ‘SOLUTIONS’

Selecting an appropriate paint system is thus complicated by the need for the coating to adhere to the substrate, which may vary from one area to the next, and if the substrate remains breathable, the new paint system must not trap moisture. Other issues which also need to be considered include cost (materials and labour), resistance to staining from the substrate, resistance to abrasion, and appearance.

Solid concrete floors following a 20th-century rebuild; note how the moisture travels up through the renewed stonework and forms a salty crust on the original fabric.

Modern, impermeable paint peeling due to damp

replaced, it is best to use fibre-reinforced natural lime plasters. However, in some circumstances an alternative proprietary lime-rich renovating plaster mix may be used. Limelite for example contains both lime and fibrous reinforcement, albeit with a small amount of cement. When set, these plasters have a light and open structure that allows water vapour to pass through. There are mixes suitable for upper and lower wall conditions, and the skim coat adheres particularly well to all types of surface, even those which are impermeable. The manufacturers offer good technical guidance and support.

Proprietary lime-rich renovating plasters such as Limelite are best used in the following circumstances: • where working at high level – wall and ceiling-renovating plasters are lighter weight and will penetrate crevices and timber lath more readily • where the underlying masonry is particularly hard, impermeable and smooth • as a skim coat where the surface

All the detail has been overpainted in gloss oil paints.

The floor is covered in rubber backed carpeting

surrounding the repair is inconsistent, particularly in terms of permeability, and where it is important to provide a smooth overall appearance • where it is necessary to work at cold temperatures (around 10°C) and/or with high humidity and/or in poorly ventilated spaces.

One other cause of poor paint adhesion is the use of inappropriate paints to cover traditional finishes such as limewash, casein-based paints and whiting. Where this is identified as a problem and the church is ancient or from a period when complex decorative schemes were popular, care must be taken when offering advice on recoating. In these cases you are required to assume the possibility of underlying paint schemes that might be restored at a future date.

Wet penetration caused by a poorly maintained surface water drainage system or a system that does not have sufficient capacity to control the level of water runoff in heavy rainfall requires careful consideration. Checks should be made and action taken where necessary on basic maintenance and ‘jobbing’ repairs.

Ground conditions at the base of a wall must also be assessed. Is the area drained (a French drain or ‘dry area’)? Are there gullies at the base of the rainwater downpipes? Soil and debris may have built up. Sheds and oil tanks may have been placed against a north wall restricting evaporation. However, the more fundamental difficulties often relate to the general condition of roofs, wall head and valley gutters.

One-coat paints Specially formulated one-coat paints such as Classidur Tradition are designed to adhere to a variety of backgrounds and substrates without sealants or undercoats, and have a flat matt finish. These paints have good vapour permeability, resist salt formation and retain elasticity over time.

To avoid black spot mildew, one-coat paints should not be of the ‘plant-based oil’ (soya) variety. Cover depends on substrate – further coats may be required to provide even cover.

POSITIVES

The paint is designed to adhere well to all kinds of substrate, including moist backgrounds. It is non-yellowing with excellent stain-covering properties, hardens rapidly and has very good mechanical resistance. As it does not penetrate into the underlying paints, it may be used where there is evidence of underlying limewash and other traditional paints. Due to its chemical properties it might be removed as a single layer at some future date.

NEGATIVES

The paint is relatively expensive. It can be difficult to apply in some circumstances.

It is only available in white.

Basic (low cost) contract matt emulsions Emulsion paints are water-based paints in which the paint material is dispersed in a liquid that consists mainly of water.

Where suitable these have the advantage of being fast-drying with low toxicity, low cost, easy application, and easy cleaning of equipment, among other factors. On the basis that low cost means minimal use of expensive oil-based compounds such as vinyl, a basic trade product will have high mineral (packer) content such as chalk.

As a result, the paint will be permeable to water vapour. (If you are uncertain whether the paint has a high mineral content, try using it outside to see how rapidly it degrades.)

Use where the church does not have problems with damp or paint adherence, and where there are already many overlying coats of emulsion. (Although

BCD SPECIAL REPORT ON HISTORIC CHURCHES 22 ND ANNUAL EDITION

21

not ideal, in some circumstances you will have to accept that there is no other sensible answer, but it can be a difficult case to argue with the DAC.)

One-coat (eg Classidur)

Contract matt emulsion

Mineral paint (eg Keim & Beeck)

Limewash

Very good

Varies 1

Very good

Excellent

Varies 2

Varies 2

Very poor

Excellent

Excellent

Good

Good

Poor

Good

Poor

Poor

Poor

Durability

Very good

Poor

Very good

Poor

Finish

Flat matt

Matt

Flat matt

Flat matt

Colour retention

Excellent

Varies

Excellent

Excellent

Dilution/cleaning

Proprietary solvent

Water

Water

Water

High

Low

High

Low

CHARACTERISTICS Vapour permeability

POSITIVES

The paint is low cost, readily available and easy to apply.

NEGATIVES

It is prone to static and particulate greying especially over heaters. It is also prone to scratching and staining.

Mineral Paints Also known as silicate paints, these highly porous paint systems are based on mineral silicates which bond with a lime or stone substrate through the development of an insoluble microcrystalline structure.

They are stocked by most specialist conservation materials suppliers. Free from organic solvents, plasticisers and biocides, they are naturally resistant to mould and fungal growth and are suitable for allergy sufferers. Surfaces are cleanable and resistant to disinfectants making the paint suitable for application in food preparation areas.

POSITIVES

Mineral paints adhere to all types of surface (but often require an undercoat in order to equalise absorbency of the general wall surface) and they come in a wide range of whites and other colours.

There is good technical support on site and over the phone, and detailed technical literature is provided. They are not prone to static and particulate greying, and do not degrade in sunlight.

They have a long life and performance warranties are available as long as the selling agents approve the specification and attend site occasionally.

NEGATIVES

Mineral paints are relatively high cost, particularly if sealants and undercoats are required (this depends on the underlying properties of the painted surface). They are unsuitable for use where historic paint schemes might exist as mineral paint systems are designed to penetrate the underlying painted surfaces and are almost impossible to remove. All unpainted surfaces including stone detailing, monuments and furnishing must be protected as this type of paint dries quickly and is non-reversible.

Limewash The paint used traditionally both internally and externally, limewash is the most vapour permeable option.

Although less durable than modern alternatives, it is ideal for lime plastered and rendered walls, or for bare masonry pointed with lime mortars. It can be

22

Reversibility Cover Adherence on moist ground

Cost NOTES

1 2

Contract matt emulsions with high chalk content have good vapour permeability Film-forming paints are generally easier to remove where underlying layers are of limewash

cheaply made by diluting lime putty, and earth pigments such as ochre may be added if a colour wash is required.

A binder such as linseed oil or tallow is sometimes added, particularly for external use, and an increasing number of new formulations are being developed to broaden its application. Limewash has a very attractive appearance internally and externally, good shadowing and sunlight reflection, and it can be reapplied in small areas where paint surfaces are prone to damage.

POSITIVES

Limewash is a highly permeable, lowcost option which can be used on old limewash and lime plaster. It can also help to consolidate friable lime surfaces.

It retains an attractive appearance over long periods of weathering and use. It is also historically appropriate in many older churches where it was the original finish.

NEGATIVES

Limewash cannot be used on impermeable surfaces or over modern non-porous paint systems (although it is often possible to remove a nontraditional paint, particularly where there are underlying coats of limewash).

It requires a large number of colour wash coats to build up opacity.

Decorators require hand and eye protection due to its caustic effect.

In conclusion, no matter what paint is specified it will quickly degrade if the underlying painted surface has not had sufficient time to dry out following repairs, or if loose paint has not been thoroughly removed. Make sure the plasterwork is only repaired with limebased or renovating plasters no matter how small the hole. Fillers of any sort

BCD SPECIAL REPORT ON HISTORIC CHURCHES 22 ND ANNUAL EDITION

should not be specified or allowed. Open joints, particularly where the walls abut timberwork, must not be sealed in order to allow the timber to ventilate. Open joints in the masonry construction require repointing using a natural lime mortar and, finally, surface waterproofing agents such as water soluble PVA (Polyvinyl acetate) should never be used.

Further Information N Ashurst, Cleaning Historic Buildings, Vol 1, Donhead, Shaftesbury, 1994: Ch 7 describes paint removal and how to apply traditional alternatives.

G Davies, ‘Vapour Permeable Paint’, The Building Conservation Directory, Cathedral Communications, Tisbury, 1996 (http://bc-url.com/vapour): article on the use of traditional limewash and contemporary alternatives English Heritage, Practical Building Conservation: Building Environment, Ashgate, Farnham, 2014: large volume with comprehensive coverage of humidity and permeability issues Internet search term: ‘traditional vapour permeable interior paints’: provides links to all of the current manufacturers and companies which market their products Internet search term: ‘traditional lime and renovating plaster’: provides links to all current manufacturers of traditional and renovating wall plasters and companies which market their products.

MARK PARSONS is an architect accredited in building conservation (AABC) and a partner in the practice of Anthony Short & Partners LLP in Ashbourne, Derbyshire (www. asap-architects.com). He is responsible for the quinquennial inspections of 130 churches in the dioceses of Derby, Southwell and Lichfield.

CHURCH BRASSWORK Will Murray

Detail of a chancel screen at Bristol Cathedral: the delicate filigree work is vulnerable to mechanical damage, while the handle of the latch is more exposed to chemical residues from bare fingers, and the fine details trap residue from polish (Photo: Jonathan Taylor)

B

RASS IS an alloy of copper and zinc that has always been favoured for its beauty and workability. In ecclesiastical circles it has a long history of use in fixtures and fittings such as lamps, chandeliers, gates, rails and door furniture, as well as more movable objects such as crucifixes, lecterns, candelabra, jugs, plates and cups. Musical instruments, especially hand-bells and cymbals, also come to mind, and of course brass can be used in the manufacture of organs and organ pipes.

The Romans made great use of brass, for instance in their coinage and armour, and while it has been suggested that the Jews rejected it precisely because of its associations with the Roman occupiers of Palestine, it is likely the Christian church

would have made use of brass from its earliest days. In medieval times brass continued to be used although its quality became much more variable. In the modern age the increased understanding of metallurgy and improved methods of manufacture brought brass objects within the reach of any parish, with designs shaped by a variety of influences from the gothic revival to modernism.

This article looks at some of the care and conservation issues that can arise when looking after brass objects.

It excludes the care of monumental brasses as these tend to have their own special problems, often due to their location in floors where they are vulnerable to accidental damage and

the heavy use that can arise if they are popular for making rubbings (see ‘Monumental Brasses’ by William Lack on BuildingConservation.com).

What makes brass so popular for the manufacture of so many items associated with churches and religious practice? As an alloy of copper with zinc, the metal has a range of colours depending on the zinc content. The high-zinc brasses may have up to 40 per cent zinc and are usually a silvery yellow colour, while a low-zinc brass with only 5 per cent zinc might tend towards a pinkish copper colour. The mid-range brasses, which are the most common, typically contain 25–35 per cent zinc and have a warm golden yellow colour. Thus brass exhibits something

BCD SPECIAL REPORT ON HISTORIC CHURCHES 22 ND ANNUAL EDITION

23

An eagle lectern in St Mary Redcliffe, Bristol dated 1638 (left) and a detail (right) of the base of a late 19th-century eagle lectern in Bristol Cathedral: the ornate scroll-work is of copper, which is particularly vulnerable to accidental damage. (Photos: Jonathan Taylor)

of the beauty and value of gold with the durability, workability and lower cost of a copper-based alloy. However, unlike gold, it is not inert and it will oxidise slowly if not protected by wax or lacquer.

Sheet brass is made by hot-rolling and cold-rolling cakes of alloy until the desired thickness and size is achieved.

The forging and rolling of brass causes work-hardening and embrittlement so the metal has to be annealed in between working – that is, heated to a temperature that allows the metal crystals to rearrange themselves, with the reduction of internal stresses leading to a softening of the brass. Repairs to badly damaged sheet brass artefacts may also require annealing before the metal can be reshaped.

Brass for casting can contain some lead as this reduces the melting point and makes it easier to pour when molten. Lead has also been added to brass to make it easier to machine, for example for making plumbing fittings with screw threads. In

24

recent years concerns have been raised about the lead content of brass used for a variety of items, including pipe fittings, due to the leaching of lead into drinking water, and even brass keys due to the potential transfer of lead out of the metal and onto skin during handling. Today the amount of lead allowed in brass for such uses has been strictly limited in some countries.

However, the author is not aware of concerns about the lead in items of church brasswork, presumably because no health problems have been reported or detected.

Brass is relatively resistant to tarnish, yet is malleable and easy to work in sheet form or cast into a mould to make heavier pieces, and components are easily joined together by brazing, soldering or riveting.

It also takes well to polishing where the use of increasingly fine abrasives leads to the production of a smooth bright surface. This contrasts with copper and bronze which have less useful working characteristics, and which tend to

BCD SPECIAL REPORT ON HISTORIC CHURCHES 22 ND ANNUAL EDITION

tarnish rapidly if cleaned and polished.

Indeed, bronze and copper are normally deliberately patinated as otherwise the task of maintaining a bright and attractive surface would be endless. But brass can be maintained in a bright state with relatively little effort if the general conditions in which it is kept meet reasonable standards.

Coatings should be mentioned as they can present significant issues. Brass can be gilded either by oil-gilding (when gold leaf is applied to the surface with an adhesive), by mercury-gilding, or by electroplating. The layers of gold applied are very thin and can easily be removed by inappropriate treatment. Brass may also be protected by a durable lacquer which will prevent tarnishing, but if the lacquer is damaged, the exposed area of metal will tarnish, creating visibly darker areas.

The most problematic items are those that once had a coat of lacquer which has been partially removed by cleaning and polishing efforts, leaving a sort of

patchwork quilt of lacquered brass which remains bright, and unprotected brass which tarnishes comparatively quickly.

What can harm church brasswork?

The agents of deterioration include high humidity, which can increase tarnish and corrosion rates, and salts, which can be naturally present in coastal areas but can also come out of walls and floors if there is a lot of moisture movement through the building fabric, and which also encourage corrosion if they come into contact with metal.

Handling brass with the bare hands transfers oils, salts and acids to the metal surface and these can interact with the brass over time to cause finger-marking, tarnishing and corrosion. Of course, many of those who attend church cannot be asked to wear gloves simply to keep the brassware bright, but the staff and volunteers who care for church furnishings can certainly aid matters if they wear gloves when handling bright metals.

Cotton gloves are good for the job, but can be slippery, so some come with special rubber dots on the surface to increase grip. Household rubber gloves are useful as they are hard-wearing, but they are not very sensitive. Disposable latex gloves are useful but can become uncomfortable if worn for long periods, and some people are allergic to latex. Disposable nitrile gloves such as those used in the medical professions (Kimberley-Clark purple nitrile exam gloves for example) are very useful for collection care work as they combine comfort with protection of both the skin and the objects being handled.

Candle wax is rather acidic and will react with the copper in brass to produce green corrosion products, so should not be left in contact for long periods of time.

Other acidic materials such as wine and foodstuffs can also attack brass, causing pitting and corrosion if left in contact with the surface.

Soiling is a problem, as dust and dirt are abrasive, and contain materials which encourage tarnishing and corrosion, or when in contact with metals act as sites where corrosion problems can start. If candles are used in the buildings, the soot they produce can slowly build up and soil surfaces, but this is perhaps less of a problem than it once was.

Inappropriate cleaning materials can harm brass by cleaning too aggressively, removing a thin layer of metal each time the object is cleaned; this can eventually cause the loss of surface detail, especially on decorated pieces. Cleaning and polishing materials can also leave residues on the surface and in recesses, often in the form of white deposits of abrasive

powders that have not been properly removed. Finally, accidental damage such as scratching, denting or breakage is always a risk, especially when objects are handled or moved.

CARE OF BRASS When caring for brass artefacts, the best place to start is an assessment of the object’s condition from a conservation perspective. Each artefact is different, with variations in design and manufacture, in decorative surface detail and in current finish or patina, as well as in the way it is used in the church or elsewhere. These variations all contribute to decisions about what care methods to use.

For example, a pair of candlesticks might be small and have a bright finish showing signs of past polishing; in such cases light cleaning might be best. An item might be very large and anyone deciding to embark on a mission to clean and polish it top to bottom might be looking at a full day’s work or even more; is there time available to do a good job? An item might show signs of gilding or lacquering or another surface finish which means that simply applying a metal polish might cause damage or be ineffective; further advice and discussion might be needed. An item might show patchy tarnish and fingermarking which will benefit from the careful application of the right sort of polish.

Or a brass item might show a deeplycoloured and even coat of tarnish which is aesthetically pleasing in its own right.

Such patinas can become part of the long-term appearance of the artefact and thoughtlessly assuming that ‘all brasswork must be bright’ can lead to the loss of an appearance treasured by others. A nonbrass related example would perhaps be the cleaning of the Sistine Chapel frescoes which led to many complaints that they had been over-cleaned and that deliberately-applied materials had been lost along with the soiling.

If your brass is already bright and clean, the best way to manage it is by timely maintenance with light methods of cleaning such as dusting and buffing with a soft cloth. Keep items clean and free of dust and dirt as far as possible; don’t leave food and drink residues on brass plates and cups. Often a wipe over with a damp cloth is sufficient to clean items.

Flatware such as plates can be immersed in water with a little washing-up liquid for cleaning, but items with more of a three-dimensional shape may contain voids or even structural elements such as iron rods holding the parts together and immersion is best avoided as any water that gets trapped can cause corrosion. In

such cases, wiping with a cloth moistened in warm water with a drop or two of washing-up liquid is probably best.

Brass artefacts known to have lacquered surfaces can also be gently cleaned with a damp cloth.

Wax can be a problem on candlesticks and other surfaces, and trying to remove it using tools can cause severe damage to the brass below. There are many recipes for removing wax with both freezing and application of hot water being popular options. It is usually best to use a hairdryer or a hot air blower set to the temperature that will melt the wax without overheating the object. As the wax melts, it can be wiped up with a paper towel and disposed of. Any waxy residues can often be removed with a towel moistened with a little white spirit, a solvent which should be safe on all metal surfaces. Follow safety advice and wear

Detail of a fine processional cross from St Margaret’s Episcopal Church, Aberdeen, before consolidation and repair: dated 1878, it is a composition of earlier pieces, including a brass crucifix believed to be 15th or 16th century and mother of pearl carvings depicting the evangelists. (Photo: Will Murray)

BCD SPECIAL REPORT ON HISTORIC CHURCHES 22 ND ANNUAL EDITION

25

A war memorial from Minard, Argyll (above) part way through cleaning showing patchy tarnishing in the uncleaned areas which make the roll of honour difficult to read, and (below) a detail of a plaque with bimetallic corrosion around a fixing (Both photos: Will Murray)

appropriate protective equipment when using solvents such as white spirit.

Handling brass with bare hands, as has been mentioned, leaves oils and salts on the surface which cause tarnishing, so surfaces frequently touched such as a chancel rail will benefit from light burnishing with a soft cloth on a regular basis. If this proves ineffective in preventing tarnish, the use of a microfibre cloth designed for polishing metals such as brass may be helpful. If necessary, consider using a special brass polishing cloth that has been impregnated with mild abrasives and cleaners.

If the brass item has a thin patchy coat of tarnish, then the use of cloths may not be effective, and in such cases brass polishes should be considered. These come in a great variety, from the gentle to the strong, and it is really a case of horses for courses when it comes to choosing a polish. Some conservators tend to avoid those brass polishes that leave a powdery residue in recesses, as these can be difficult to remove once they have dried out, and sometimes the rather coarse abrasive can remove more metal than might be desired, but classic products like Brasso

26

polish are still in use in many places.

More gentle options include Duraglit brass polishing wadding and Brasso brass polishing wadding, which are based on petroleum spirit rather than water and thus must only be used while wearing gloves. These waddings tend to turn black when polishing the brass, but careful burnishing after polishing should bring up a bright surface and remove any visible dark residues.

The National Trust’s Manual of Housekeeping encourages staff and volunteers who need to polish brass to use Solvol Autosol, a metal polish designed for use on a wide range of metals. It is a fairly strong and effective cleaning and polishing agent so should be used with care. It can certainly be useful when more gentle brass polishes such as the wadding polishes have failed to make an impact. It too turns black as it is used, and if fully burnished out it should not leave any visible residues.

Many commercial polishes contain a mixture of abrasives, chemicals and waxes. The ingredients of any commercial product can often be discovered by searching online for the product name and the MSDS, or Material Safety Data Sheet, which will provide information about ingredients and the health and safety issues involved in the use of the product.

The waxes that are included in polishes are designed to remain on the surface and provide a protective layer against future tarnishing. This is, in principle, a good idea but the wax layer tends to trap abrasives, chemicals, metal fragments and anything else that was on the surface during polishing. Some conservators remove the wax and other polish residues by wiping down the surface with a paper towel or soft cloth moistened slightly with white spirit. Once all the black residues have come away, the surface may be

BCD SPECIAL REPORT ON HISTORIC CHURCHES 22 ND ANNUAL EDITION

considered to be reasonably clean.

Of course having the wax present is a good idea, as some protection against future tarnishing is certainly helpful. Some institutions go so far as to have protective lacquers applied to their freshly-polished brass, and this can give many years of protection to those items that do not see hard use. However, if the lacquer is damaged, it can lead to rapid tarnishing in the areas where metal is exposed, and then there are decisions to be made about removal and/or replacement, which may require special facilities.

A better answer is a conservationgrade wax polish such as Renaissance Wax. Widely used by conservators, this wax forms a clear self-healing coating on bright metals. It protects to a great extent against dust and humidity as well as handling and tarnish. It can easily be revived by the application of more Renaissance Wax once a year, or as required. It is easily removed with a soft cloth moistened with a little white spirit.

If polishing the brass, the wax does not resist the polishing process, and does not have to be specially removed beforehand.

The only situation where Renaissance Wax might not be useful is where there is a great deal of complex decoration and it would prove difficult to buff the wax up to a good shine, or on uneven and porous materials such as unvarnished wood where again the wax will be difficult to buff to a transparent coating.

Finally, when it comes to badlydamaged brass artefacts, repair is best left to expert metalworkers. Such conservation work might include annealing and reshaping the metal, or joining broken parts using the correct brazing techniques or perhaps the use of cold-setting resins such as epoxy resin. The use of soft lead solder is often seen on brasswork that has been repaired by amateurs wishing to be of assistance, but the results leave much to be desired as dull grey lead has no place on bright yellow brass.

A list of accredited decorative metalwork conservators can be found at the Conservation Register, www. conservationregister.com.

WILL MURRAY is an accredited conservator and a partner in The Scottish Conservation Studio LLP, a private-sector conservation provider based at Hopetoun House near Edinburgh. The studio specialises in the conservation of paper and photographs, costume and textiles, and artefacts and objects.

Its conservators also provide preventive conservation advice, collection surveys and training for museum staff and volunteers.

Email info@scottishconservationstudio.co.uk

Heritage Tile Conservation Ltd

We are specialist contractors conserving and repairing historical and listed buildings and churches throughout the United Kingdom.

We have the necessary skills and experience, and strive to attain the high standards demanded, for a wide range of works with these special buildings. Our comprehensive range of services includes: • Decoration • Conservation • Maintenance • Restoration • Stone works • Masonry • Stone cleaning • Brick cleaning • Lead work • Lime rendering • Lime pointing • Lime wash • Roofing • Guttering • Alterations • General building works.

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BCD SPECIAL REPORT ON HISTORIC CHURCHES 22 ND ANNUAL EDITION

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BCD SPECIAL REPORT ON HISTORIC CHURCHES 22 ND ANNUAL EDITION

A company using traditional materials and techniques

METAL SHEET ROOFING and its substitutes – a brief history Tony Redman

T

HE ROMANS are credited with first discovering the weathering properties of lead, which they called plumbum on account of its resistance to rain (pluvia in Latin). This also explains the origin of the name for leadworkers (‘plumbers’) and the chemical symbol in the periodic table, Pb. The Romans were using small lead sheets or tiles for roofing as early as 27 BC. Lead is a naturally occurring mineral gained by smelting galena ore. It was sometimes mixed with small quantities of silver and tin, and some authorities suggest that small quantities of such ‘impurities’ add to its malleability and weather resistance.

The Romans also introduced copper roofing, in the form of small overlapping sheets, especially on high status buildings, but its high cost compared to that of tiles produced from local clays limited its use throughout the Roman world.

Both lead and copper are highly durable, which is why they have been used on important buildings for so long. They are also very easily recycled, which is why they have been prone to theft.

This article looks at the various types of traditional metal roofing as well as modern substitute materials.

Lead

Properly installed and maintained in an environment which does not involve acidic conditions, lead is probably the longest lasting roofing material available.

It is UV stable, resists corrosion from normal weather, and is easily repairable by traditional lead workers. In its natural state lead is a whitish silver colour but it tarnishes rapidly to a dull grey in air, although patination oil can retard this as well as preventing staining due to run-off.

Lead has a low cost in use compared to other forms of roof covering, largely due to its weather resistance. But it does have its drawbacks.

Firstly, lead has a high coefficient of thermal expansion and needs to be given the capacity to move without tearing its

Lead stripped from the roof of St Andrew’s, Boothby Pagnell, Lincolnshire (Photo: E-Bound AVX Limited)

fixings. The standard thicknesses of lead sheet are defined by ‘codes’ that are based on weight in imperial pounds per square foot, so Code 4 lead sheet’s approximate weight is 4lbs/sq ft, while Code 5’s is 5lbs/sq ft. The Victorians, proud of being able to calculate stresses in materials and design buildings to use materials to their maximum tolerances, often exceeded modern lead tolerances, not always successfully.

Secondly, lead can be subject to underside corrosion, especially in contact with green oak, and associated with the use of unvented gas heating systems.

An acidic atmosphere condensing in an unvented environment leads to oxidisation and the formation of white lead oxide, a highly toxic powder.

Thirdly, lead itself is toxic and builds up slowly in the body requiring care on the part of those who work with it.

Sand-cast lead, run out over a table of compacted sand, is widely regarded as superior to milled lead, where the molten raw material is run between two rollers and cooled more rapidly. However, it requires more care and craft skills in its production and often contains more antique lead,

containing a greater proportion of silver and tin which give it better workability and durability. Milled lead on the other hand may be a more consistent product and it is often cheaper, although the cost balances out when the value of salvaged lead is added into the equation.

Copper

Copper roofing underwent a revival in the 1950s when its use became fashionable on civic buildings, and the formation of the Copper Roofing Association promoted its development and use. Many historic buildings have copper roofing in good condition which is over 60 years old. It is relatively trouble-free.

Copper sheet was usually laid over ‘inodorous felt’, which was traditionally made from horse hair but modern underlays use a wide variety of materials including geotextiles.

Surface finishes have been applied to either encourage corrosion to a green verdigris colour, or to prevent it.

Copper roofing is less prone to thermal movement than lead, enabling it to be laid using upstand seams and clipped more securely to its substrate.

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Copper on the roof of the friary church of Blackfriars, Norwich

Corrugated iron roof and walls of a ‘tin tabernacle’, the church of All Saints at Brokerswood, Wiltshire (1904)

Stainless steel being laid on the aisles of the parish church of Tisbury, Wiltshire: the high parapets made the lower roofs vulnerable to theft, but they also meant that a change in appearance would not be visible.

Depending on the world market price, copper can be vulnerable to theft, although the method of fixing tends to render this less likely than with lead.

Zinc

This mineral was also known to the Romans and the oxide was used in the production of brass, but it was not until the mid-16th century that it was recognised as a metal in its own right.

The industrialisation of the smelting process began in Bristol in 1743 but it was not until further developments in Belgium and Germany in the middle of the 19th century that the production of a cheap zinc roofing material got under way. The metal itself is comparatively cheap to produce and to lay but more vulnerable to corrosion in damp, polluted atmospheres than copper or lead. In the UK it has been prone to perforating due to acid rain and,

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when laid over oak boarding, tannic acid.

Further developments in 19th-century France introduced galvanising by smelting zinc and tin together and coating this onto steel using an electrolytic process.

More common in mainland Europe and the Far East, zinc sheet roofing has recently become fashionable in the UK and it is available in a limited variety of coatings and colours produced by companies such as Nedzink in Germany and Elzinc in Spain, although its use in a conservation context is likely to be limited.

Corrugated iron Henry Palmer, an architect for the London Dock Company, patented a die-rolling process in 1829 to corrugate metal sheeting, which gave it strength to support itself over greater lengths, thus reducing the cost of construction.

Originally Palmer used wrought iron, but thinner steels were lighter and more transportable. His patent ran out in 1843 and the first pre-constructed buildings using the material were exhibited at the Great Exhibition in 1851.

The use of corrugated iron for cheap buildings spread rapidly leading to what William Morris called in an 1890 pamphlet: ‘a pestilence spreading over the country’. Enterprising companies marketed packaged buildings for community uses, and the ‘tin tabernacle’ was born. Some early survivors have been listed, but it is now largely restricted to temporary structures and protection.

Long-term protection depends on maintaining a good repainting regime.

Iron and steel Iron roofing was an early substitute for other materials due to its fire-proofing qualities but surface corrosion was always a problem. Cast iron was less prone to corrosion than ordinary iron, but still required protection by paint or anodic protection. One of the most famous buildings which retains a cast iron roof is the Palace of Westminster.

Steel performed slightly better due to the addition of carbon to the molten

BCD SPECIAL REPORT ON HISTORIC CHURCHES 22 ND ANNUAL EDITION

iron but zinc coatings and lead paint were much improved forms of protection, although each came with a significant health risk. A big leap forward came in 1913 with Harry Brearley’s discovery that adding a small proportion of chromium to steel during smelting greatly improved its corrosion protection.

Stainless steel, or ‘corrosion-less steel’ as it was first called, was originally developed to prevent corrosion in gun barrels by the addition of small amounts of chromium and nickel. Its use for roofing didn’t begin until the 1970s, when the Less Steel Strip Company promoted the material as a substitute for lead roofing. It was relatively light, being about half the thickness of copper, and easy to apply, usually with a device which produced a folded-over standing seam.

Since it does not oxidise or discolour, stainless steel roofing remains bright, which is a disadvantage on historic buildings. It also has a relatively low puncture-resistance and is difficult to mend. Repairs on historic structures tend to involve glue or mastic. As it ‘drums’ when rain falls on it, a deeper isolation material must also be used than is necessary for most other forms of roofing to muffle the sound.

There is a wide range of specifications of stainless steel on the market varying according to the proportion of other metals they contain, which affect workability and durability. They are divided into three types by their crystalline structure: ‘austenitic’, ‘ferric’ and ‘martensitic’. Two basic types are commonly specified for roofing. The most commonly specified is Type 304, which contains 18 per cent chromium and 8 per cent nickel. Type 316, which is used in harsher environments, also contains a small proportion of molybdenum, added to increase its resistance to corrosion.

Both are ‘austenitic’ types.

MODERN SUBSTITUTES Bituminous felt The earliest roofing felts were papers covered in tar to make them waterproof and were used to create temporary waterproof structures. In the 1930s their use developed and rapidly replaced horsehair felts after health scares about anthax. Various base layers were developed including asbestos fibre, sisal, fibreglass and hemp, all coated in bitumen derived from the petrochemical industry.

The great benefits of roofing felts are that they can be applied to any roof no matter the pitch, and can take a variety of surface finishes. They can last up to

Sarnafil, a polymeric sheet material, in this case detailed in imitation of lead at St Joseph’s Church, Wool, Dorset (Photo: Owlsworth Roofing)

The restored tower of St Augustine’s in the City of London, now part of St Paul’s Cathedral School: the steeple is a fibreglass replica of the Nicholas Hawksmoor original (Photo: Deror Avi)

Terned steel on the roof of a new extension to Wymondham Abbey, Norfolk, by Freeland Rees Roberts: bright silver when first laid, the metal will continue to dull as it ages.

30 years depending on the quality of the solar finish applied. However, they need to be bedded with bitumen which makes them both problematic to lay over a historic building structure and relatively unsustainable as a long term solution. Their ‘cost in use’ over the life of a building is relatively high compared to metal roofing due to the short life-span before the felt succumbs to embrittlement due to sunlight (UV radiation).

penetration is only as good as its fixings.

Being impervious, GRP roofs can also suffer from mould growth underneath the surface without adequate ventilation.

Fibreglass Glass fibre was developed by the American Corning company in the 1930s after a technician accidentally blew compressed air through a vat of molten glass. DuPont developed the resins needed to strengthen the material and further development in the 1960s produced glass reinforced plastic or GRP, which is now widely used in a range of applications.

Its great selling point is its versatility and ability to mimic aesthetically any other material including lead roofing, tiling and even thatch, and it has often been used to replicate difficult or inaccessible roofing details. However, while the glass content itself is probably indestructible, the polymer matrix is vulnerable to embrittlement, fading and scorching by sunlight, affecting early examples. Despite recent improvements, its long-term weathering remains uncertain.

As a rigid, lightweight material, GRP is also vulnerable to wind-lift, and although the material is impervious to moisture, its ability to prevent water

Single ply membranes These come in five basic types: PVC (Poly Vinyl Chloride), TPO (Thermoplastic Polyolefin), TPE (Thermoplastic Polyolefin Elastomer), EPDM (Ethylene Propylene Diene Monomer) and PIB (Polysio-Butylene).

Of these, PIB is the most versatile and recyclable and has been in production the longest. EPDM is a synthetic rubber used for pool liners and although it is the cheapest of the single ply membranes it was not specifically designed for use in roofing. TPO and PVC are not as durable and are more difficult to lay and repair.

Sika Ltd has developed a range of improved PVC products with the refurbishment market in mind under their ‘Sarnafil’ trade mark. As these contain glass fibre substrates they are not strictly speaking single ply, but it is claimed that they are more durable than mono ply solutions. TPE is a more sophisticated weldable, repairable, durable and recyclable material, but it comes in a limited range of colours.

None of the mono ply membranes are breathable to any great extent so they are unlikely to be a first choice when it comes to use in historic buildings unless ventilation can be incorporated.

The maximum life expectancy is in the region of 20–35 years, which places them among the more costly solutions when considering cost in use.

Aluminium Less common as a roofing material, aluminium can now be enhanced with the addition of a zinc layer. ‘FalZinc’, ‘Titansilver’ and ‘KalZinc’ are typical trademarks. The benefits are lightness and workability. The fixings are usually standing seams or batten rolls which makes lead replacement finishes problematic from an aesthetic point of view. The material’s 95 per cent recyclability is stressed in product literature but its green credentials are somewhat undermined by the high energy consumption of the smelting process. Life expectancy is given as 40 years by most manufacturers.

Terne-coated stainless steel Terne coating has been on the market since 1968, ‘terne’ referring to the application of an alloy containing lead and tin which gives steel the appearance of lead without the weight, being about equivalent in weight to Code 1 lead sheet.

In the 1990s the Follansbee steel company developed terne coatings of zinc and tin with a superior weathering to lead (TCS/ZT) and, in recent years, with a thicker and more durable coating (TCS II). ‘TCS’, a registered trade mark, is also available with an aluminium and zinc coating (TCS/AZ) which performs better in marine environments.

A limited number of other producers market terne-coated stainless steels in a wide range of colours and textures. Uginox is probably the European market leader and its ‘Patina’ range of ferric stainless steels and ‘Top’ range of austenitic ternecoated steels have been specially formulated for roofing applications.

Careful selection is essential to achieve the best stainless steel for the appropriate environments at the best cost in any given application.

Further Information British Stainless Steel Association www.bssa.org.uk Copper Development Association www.copperalliance.org.uk Federation of Traditional Metal Roofing Contractors www.ftmrc.co.uk Lead Contractors Association www.leadcontractorsassociation.com Lead Sheet Association www.leadsheet.co.uk National Heritage Roofing Contractors Register www.nfrc.co.uk TONY REDMAN MA BSc FRICS IHBC is a conservation-accredited chartered building surveyor and partner in WCP (The Whitworth Co-Partnership LLP – see page 47).

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MAINTENANCE CO-OPERATIVES Kate Streeter ‘A STITCH in time saves nine’, or as SPAB founder William Morris put it: ‘Stave off decay by daily care’. However you look at it, avoiding major, costly works to places of worship through cheap and cheerful regular maintenance has to be a good thing. The Maintenance Co-operatives Project is all about providing free practical support to the dedicated staff and volunteers who take care of some of Britain’s most treasured heritage.

The SPAB has long taken a keen interest in historic churches and chapels.

Approximately five per cent of all listed buildings are places of worship, but this figure jumps to 45 per cent if you just look at Grade I listed buildings.

Because the SPAB is a statutory consultee in the planning process, as well as the Church of England’s faculty process and its equivalents in other denominations, places of worship form a significant proportion of the SPAB’s casework. The society sees first-hand the importance of religious architecture to the landscape of British heritage and to British society, and it is not alone in this view. Research recently published by the National Churches Trust shows that over three quarters of the British public, regardless of their religious persuasion, feel that churches and chapels form an important part of the nation’s heritage.

However, the SPAB is also keenly aware of the challenges faced by those looking after faith buildings. Balancing income, faith use, wider community use and the general public’s expectations with often complex maintenance needs can feel like an impossible juggling act for those responsible for their care. The challenges are even more acute where congregations are small, geographically dispersed or physically unable to carry out maintenance. This is where the SPAB can help. Its wealth of knowledge and expertise is freely available and the society aims to help people enjoy their places of worship and see them as assets rather than as a burden that

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(All photos: SPAB)

detracts from mission. The concerns of those taking care of places of worship differ from those of private owners of listed buildings, and the SPAB has been working hard to provide programmes tailored to the former’s needs.

Back in 2007 the SPAB launched the Faith In Maintenance programme (FiM), supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF). A one-day training event covering all aspects of caring for historic places of worship, took SPAB deputy director Sara Crofts all over the country. By 2012 she had delivered 150 training days to over 5,000 volunteers, who also received a maintenance calendar, book and DVD. The course was a huge success, winning a Europa Nostra award for education, training and awareness-raising. When

BCD SPECIAL REPORT ON HISTORIC CHURCHES 22 ND ANNUAL EDITION

demand remained high in 2012 English Heritage stepped in with further funding, covering 60 per cent of the running costs and allowing the SPAB to continue to offer the day at a subsidised price of just £500.

Feedback from FiM was positive but one important aspect of the programme needed further development.

Maintaining buildings is not just about knowing how, why and what needs to be done, but also about having the capacity to actually carry out those tasks. That means having systems in place and trained people on the ground who are willing and able to assist. For many places of worship this is easier said than done, and it was this capacity shortage that led to the creation of the Maintenance Cooperatives Project (MCP).

This three-year, £1.2 million project is primarily supported by the HLF, which recognised the value of pooling volunteer resources that the project presented.

The idea is simple: bring together a number of places of worship in an area and help them put together a trained group of volunteers which can carry out preventive (non-invasive) maintenance, sharing equipment and expertise, and saving time and money.

In order to achieve this the SPAB has assembled an eight-strong team, including five regionally based project officers, each working to found co-operatives in their area and support them over the life of the project with training, volunteer recruitment and organisation. The project also has its own dedicated technical officer, James Innerdale, an architect with long experience of the society’s technical work. The team is supported by an administrator and project manager.

Each place of worship that takes part receives an information and launch event given by their regional officer, and a baseline survey day. James has developed an easy-to-use survey tool that can be downloaded free of charge from the MCP website (www.spabmcp. org.uk/co-op-toolkit). The tool is designed to assess the condition of each part of the building and the associated training helps volunteers to understand what needs to be done to keep it in good condition and, crucially, to spot small issues well before they become big expensive problems. Often this can be as simple as matching a green patch inside with a cracked gutter outside. Finding it early can mean the difference between a quick gutter repair and an expensive roof timber replacement – or worse.

Once the survey is complete, the findings are used to compile an annual maintenance plan and to establish what is needed to carry out the plan. That might be volunteer recruitment, equipment sharing or tailored training days.

The idea is to distil what can be a never-ending and daunting task into a simple and planned set of activities which participants have the confidence to carry out. It is not designed to encourage non-specialists to carry out invasive or corrective work to buildings.

In fact quite the opposite, the project can’t always prevent the big jobs, they still inevitably crop up or are already present. When needed, the MCP team can help participants understand what needs to be done, how to employ – with professional support – an appropriately qualified and priced contractor who understands the needs of their

Spotting and responding to minor defects quickly can prevent them from developing into larger, more expensive problems.

building and, if necessary, help them to understand the faculty system.

Where a specialist contractor is needed the cost can be spread if other buildings in the co-operative need similar work, an idea already successfully promoted by SPAB allies Maintain Your Heritage through their ‘GutterClear’ programme. Where a building has a quinquennial inspection regime the MCP survey and maintenance plan is designed to work alongside it, referencing its findings and dealing with issues that might crop up within a five year period.

At the end of the project’s first year approximately 20 co-operatives are up and running across the five project regions: South West, North East, Herefordshire and Worcestershire, Lincolnshire, and Cumbria. Over 40 events have taken place attracting a total of around 600 delegates. It has been quite a learning curve. What a co-operative looks like, how many buildings take part, how it is run and the type of activities it carries out vary widely from place to place. This gives a strong local flavour to each group and means that the project responds to local needs, but it also means that the MCP team needs to approach each new co-operative slightly differently, getting to understand what they want to get out of being involved.

A co-operative in Cumbria is responsible for the fragile William Morris Lanercost Dossal, an embroidered wall-hanging of exceptional artistic and historical significance. The team there has emphasised what is essentially collections care, taking part in textile conservation training that has given them the confidence to understand the highly sensitive annual cleaning programme.

In the South West the Melbury Team co-operative started out with a series of practical gutter clearing days.

The Herefordshire and Worcestershire region has seen co-operatives mushrooming all over the two counties as word about the benefits of co-operative

working spreads. A local steering group is in place and volunteers have been pro-active in creating the survey and maintenance plan at each building taking part. Many are current places of worship but others have had to find alternative uses, including as a scout hut. The need for well-planned and appropriate preventive maintenance, however, remains the same.

Once a year the Maintenance Co-operatives Project holds a national conference to launch National Maintenance Week. The conference is an opportunity to bring together people who have been involved from all over the country, celebrate their achievements, share ideas and discuss challenges. Like all MCP training and events the conference is free to attend and open to anyone who is interested in maintaining places of worship of any faith, be they old, listed, historic or otherwise.

The one-day national conference features speakers from a range of backgrounds, covering everything from faculties to heating, and gutters to gravestones. In the afternoon delegates have the opportunity to book a maintenance surgery with an MCP specialist or join a local tour.

Whichever they choose, everyone ends up enjoying a sociable drink in the evening. It is a great way to meet people from across the country who share the same challenges. The 2015 conference will be in Birmingham on Friday 20th November. Booking will open at the end of the summer and a limited number of bursaries will be available to help cover the travel expenses of volunteers who have some distance to travel.

It is hoped that at the end of the project the co-operatives that have been established with the support of the MCP regional officers will continue under their own steam, but also that other co-operatives will adopt the model independently. The project website (www.spabmcp.org.uk), complete with ‘how to set-up a co-operative toolkit’, downloadable tools and technical advice will remain live, and as ever the main SPAB technical helpline will be available to answer questions over the phone about maintaining your place of worship.

KATE STREETER joined the SPAB in 2013 as project manager for the Maintenance Co-operatives Project (www.spabmcp.org. uk), having spent the previous six years as manager of Burgh House and Hampstead Museum and founding chair of London Small Historic Houses. She also works as a freelance museums and heritage consultant.

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FOR THE RECORD Documenting church conservation and repair work Peter Aiers

F

EW ORGANISATIONS will be as acutely aware of the importance of good record-keeping as the Churches Conservation Trust (CCT), which has been caring for historic Anglican churches since 1969. During that time it has amassed a collection of 349 churches throughout England, each with hundreds of documents, many relating to its history and fabric. Furthermore, the CCT acquires one or two more churches every year, which it repairs, conserves and opens to the public. It is vital that all decisions affecting the future of these buildings are properly informed, and the ability to access clear, detailed records about a church’s past and any works carried out to it would be a tremendous asset in this process.

However, records come in many forms and the information they contain is not always consistent, obvious and systematic.

Churches close for a number of reasons, but usually there is a significant repair need that the parish is unable to cope with. This failure to deal with building repairs by the parish sets a context for the information and records that are inherited by the CCT. Every Church of England parish church is the responsibility of the parish, via the PCC. There is no central body in the C of E which is responsible for the repair of the church buildings and so it falls to volunteers up and down the country to deliver.

These volunteers are made up of the worshipping congregations and sometimes the wider community who love their churches. Although these volunteers are committed, they come from a wide variety of backgrounds and rarely have expertise in historic building conservation. This results in a wide variation in the type and quality of records kept. The volunteers who look after historic churches have an overriding purpose which should take precedence over the care of the historic church – the ‘mission’ of the church. The combination of complex historic building issues, conflicting priorities and a volunteer-run set-up often results in problems with either the updating of records or the practicalities

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St Mary’s Church, Akenham, Suffolk: one of around 350 redundant churches now in the care of The Churches Conservation Trust. Each church acquired by the trust comes with hundreds of historic documents, many of which relate to maintenance, repair and past alterations. (All photos: The Churches Conservation Trust)

of how they are stored and accessed.

Records sometimes exist purely in individual memory and are never written down, either on paper or electronically.

It is important to try to capture this knowledge, whether its source is a local volunteer or a consultant architect.

Once the process of transferring the church to the CCT is under way, the trust undertakes a full assessment of the church building, using whatever information can be amassed. This ‘vesting’ report is the baseline of the CCT record of what is known about the building fabric. Some supporting reports are supplied by the Statutory Advisory Committee on Closed and Closing Churches, a committee of the Church Buildings Council which provides independent advice on heritage matters relating to redundant churches.

These reports include analysis of the historic value of the church and try to pull together some of the known sources.

Regardless of the quality of the paper trail, there is no substitute for getting inside the building and seeing what is going on. The condition of the rafter feet,

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drainage, stonework and roof coverings are investigated. This survey work can be quite invasive as it entails opening up those hidden dark places where the rot and the beetles hide.

Once the urgent needs of the building are fully understood, the repair process begins as soon as possible and this is where the CCT record-keeping starts.

All professional reports and records of work undertaken are retained, so the trust has amassed a vast archive over the past 40 years. Storage of the paperwork comes at a cost and there are the attendant problems of curating it. The obvious approach would be to keep everything but this is impractical and unaffordable so any non-essential paperwork must be weeded out.

Inevitably, this approach is not infallible and human error sometimes results in the loss of useful information or in useless material being saved. Recalling information is also complex as although the paper files are catalogued by church, they are stored off-site and there is no index for individual folders. CCT staff

are dispersed across the country and so there is a further cost and time factor to retrieving information. There are central files and then files held in the regions, mostly in staff home offices. This leads to another challenge as it is not easy to see where all the information relating to a church is, and there is inevitably a diversity of filing practice.

The dawning of the digital age has helped considerably with record-keeping.

In particular all of the trust’s regular inspection reports are held on its servers and the majority of project work is also held digitally. This information is freely available across the CCT, leading to a much speedier and more efficient recall.

It is important to remember that despite being digital there is still a considerable cost to storing this information, especially as it includes many high resolution photographs recording everything from stone samples to beetle damage.

The CCT has been working very hard on the most effective method of storing and recalling this information. This is no mean challenge as there are around 50 staff all producing information and trying to ensure that it is consistently filed. The CCT has invested in an internet-based property management system to address this challenge.

Large capital works to the trust’s churches always begin with an assessment of significance. This extremely useful document brings together what we know about a church and also highlights what we do not know. There is a thorough search of the obvious sources of information, records office material, the CCT archives and anything else that can be found. This is sometimes the first opportunity to bring together and compare all the known records for a church and it is

A church inventory dating from the 1930s: the inventory is a list of all the objects owned by a particular church.

Land owned by the church is listed in a ‘terrier’ (derived from the Latin terra, meaning earth).

essential to understanding how one might go about altering the fabric.

The reports are set out so that whatever documentary evidence is found can be used to reinforce what we see in the actual stones (or brick) of the building.

The reports also seek to understand what we call the ‘communal value’ of the church – the value which the local community places on the church, the churchyard or a specific element or feature of either.

Establishing communal value is essential as it is very easy for an architectural historian who does not know the local context to understate the significance of an element of a church which the community values highly.

The gathering of all the available information allows the CCT to assess the relative significance of the parts of the church and enables us to make informed decisions about how and where 21st-century additions and alterations might be made. In the vast majority of cases, ancient churches have experienced considerable change over time as successive generations have improved or demolished bits in order to adapt the building to current fashions, politics or practical needs.

For the trust to make its own positive contribution to the ongoing story of these churches, we need to understand all that has come before. With a sound understanding of the development of the historic church it can be quite surprising as to what alterations can be justified and what loss of historic fabric can be borne.

Church records can also simplify the decision-making process especially if they reveal, for example, where previous doorways were positioned. The CCT is opening former doors on two medieval churches, St Mary-at-the-Quay, Ipswich and St Peter’s in Sandwich, Kent. Here the fabric of the building holds some strong evidence, but the justification for the works is held in the documentation that we have gathered.

In conclusion, the more you know about a historic church the better the decisions about repairs and alterations will be. As information technology improves, so does our ability to capture and process data. I look forward to the day when we are recording actions in the trust’s churches in real time in a seamless integrated online fashion. We are not there yet but this is the direction of travel.

It is also important to remember that what is ultimately stored in the records is more than just information – lurking in this technical data are some wonderful stories and mysteries which are waiting to be released.

BEST PRACTICE Churches typically maintain three core records: the terrier, the inventory and the log book. The terrier and the inventory are lists of, respectively, the land and the objects which belong to the church and are sometimes combined into a ‘church property register’.

The log book is a record of the alterations and repairs carried out to the church, its land and its contents. This information has many important uses: aiding insurance claims or the recovery of stolen goods, providing useful source material for local historians and other researchers and, above all, informing and guiding the sympathetic conservation of the church, its surroundings and contents.

The type, detail and quality of records kept will vary widely not just between denominations but from one historic place of worship to the next. From a building conservation perspective, however, the records should include: •• a statement of significance, if one exists, as well as any architectural plans or technical drawings that are available •• instructions and schedules for maintenance and inspection regimes along with their results such as quinquennial inspection reports •• a detailed account of any work carried out on the building and its historic contents •• the contact details of key people involved in caring for the fabric such as maintenance contractors and the quinquennial architect •• procedures to protect church fabric and contents in an emergency, for example in the event of flooding.

Finally, it is a good idea to take copies of important records and store them off-site.

Further Information British Standards Institution, BS 7913 Guide to the Principles of the Conservation of Historic Buildings, London, 2013 Chapter and Verse: The Care of Cathedral Records, Cathedral Libraries and Archives Association and the Church of England Record Centre, 2013 (available online at: www.lambethpalacelibrary.org/files/ chapter_and_verse_june_2013.pdf ) S Crofts, ‘Church Wardens and Church Fabric’, Historic Churches 2008, Cathedral Communications, Tisbury, 2008 PETER AIERS is the director of the South East region and head of regeneration at The Churches Conservation Trust (www. visitchurches.org.uk), the national charity that protects historic churches at risk.

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HISTORIC CHURCHYARD YEWS Toby Hindson

M

ANY OF the yews that exist in our churchyards are widely held to pre-date the Christian consecration of the church site. This exaggeration has its roots in Victorian guidebooks and wishful local histories.

Such yews do exist in British churchyards, but investigations by the Ancient Yew Group (AYG) show that while the myths surrounding them are many, pre-Christian yews themselves are relatively few.

Many of our oldest churchyard yews were planted around the time of the original Christian consecration of the churchyards in which they stand. Such ‘consecration yews’ are integral to their site, and stand as witness to all that has happened at the church of which they are part, familiar to all who ever set foot there. Some are original Saxon or Norman trees, others are of a later date depending on the era of the first Christian building on the site. Important renovations also seem to have triggered yew plantings and some fall into this category.

The oldest consecration yews are up to 1,400 years old. Although we do not know exactly why (there are many theories), it is evident that the planting of yews has been a part of site consecration throughout Christian history in Britain – a tradition that continues today. The AYG contends that consecration yews should be treated as artefacts of historic significance equal to that of other original parts of the church building and its setting.

As for those yews which do seem to pre-date Christianity, these are rare, staggeringly important in national or even international terms, immensely interesting and most exceptional. A few such specimens are mentioned below.

Knowing a yew’s age is key to understanding its historical significance. It is understandable that some might query the AYG’s age estimates because these sometimes conflict with previous efforts to date a particular tree. Even after 200 years the science of yew dating remains in some turmoil. The chief problem is that

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An ancient yew in the churchyard of St John the Baptist, Tisbury, Wiltshire (Photo: Jonathan Taylor)

the oldest yews are hollow. Through the centuries broken branches and injuries to the trunk allow access to bacteria and fungi which cause rot to begin in the wood at the centre of the tree. This rotting is almost inevitable over the huge lifespan of the yew, and because yew wood is exceptionally strong and flexible does not harm the living parts of the tree as it often does other species. However, because the oldest wood is missing, radiocarbon and dendrochronological investigations cannot be definitive.

A case in point is the Defynnog yew in Powys. In July 2014 several national newspapers carried articles claiming that this particular yew (or pair of yews) was 5,000 years old. However, when the Ancient Yew Group examined the evidence, it was found to be pseudo-scientific and highly selective, relying solely on evidence which appeared to support the inflated age while ignoring important evidence which refuted it. (Details of the case are available on the AYG website – see Further Information).

Unconvincing claims like this have been common in the past but as the AYG continues its cataloguing and statistical dating work, a clearer and more scientific picture of our oldest trees is emerging.

BCD SPECIAL REPORT ON HISTORIC CHURCHES 22 ND ANNUAL EDITION

The fragmented but self-supporting shell of the immensely ancient yew at Farringdon Churchyard in Hampshire: it remains almost unchanged in girth (9m or 30 feet) since it was measured by Gilbert White about 1789. (Photo: Toby Hindson)

The vast yew at Tandridge churchyard in Surrey (All further photos: Toby Hindson)

THE AYG YEW LISTS

Using the firm knowledge it has gathered, the Ancient Yew Group has produced a list of all the known significant yews in Britain. Every yew on the list is considered particularly worthy of careful protection and is rated ‘ancient’, ‘veteran’ or simply ‘notable’. Just over 1,000 churchyards in England contain AYG-listed yews, and 154 of them contain ancient specimens.

In Wales there are nearly 350 churchyards with yews of note, and of these 84 contain ancient trees. While the list of notable yews remains a work in progress, the group believes it has covered almost all churchyards which have an ancient or veteran yew, and the information for each church and diocese is freely available on the AYG website.

IS OUR YEW ANCIENT?

A simple means of assessment is to measure the girth of the yew’s trunk at its narrowest point. If it exceeds – or is known in the past to have exceeded – five metres in girth, the tree is likely to be veteran. If the girth exceeds seven metres then it is probably ancient. Sometimes it can be demonstrated that smaller yews are likely to be veteran or ancient. If you have a large unlisted yew, please contact the AYG via its website and a specialist will come and assess it.

AGEING AND REGENERATION

As they progress through various life stages old yews come to the attention of those responsible for churchyard maintenance. Some individual yews are explored below exemplifying problems and maintenance issues and solutions.

Among the yews which can be considered for pre-Christian status is the large yew in the churchyard at Tandridge, first documented in A Topographical

The extraordinary complexity of the Crowhurst yew in Sussex has developed over two millennia or more, making the tree unique and irreplaceable

History of Surrey by EW Brayley (1841): ‘At the west end, is a large decayed yew-tree, split into four or five parts, and in a state of rapid decay. At five feet [1.5 metres] from the ground, its circumference is nearly thirty feet [9.1 metres]’.

Although reported to be in a state of serious decay in 1841 the tree survived and now flourishes as one of the best and most spectacular specimens in the world. The lesson of history is that very old yews can regenerate satisfactorily, and seemingly irreversible decay and destruction of parts are incidents which, in the long-term, the organism takes in its stride.

The Tandridge yew’s base circumference was less than 10.5m when recorded in 1890, and in the last 125 years it has increased during the flush of regeneration by 53cm to nearly 11m.

This increase is likely to be faster than the growth rate during the earlier period of decay when girth increase may have virtually stalled. The yew’s projected age exceeds two millennia, placing the tree in the illustrious company of yews at Farringdon and Breamore in Hampshire, the two Crowhursts in Sussex and Surrey, Herstmonceaux in Sussex, Ashbrittle in Somerset, Norbury in Shropshire, and Llangernyw, Discoed and Bettws Newydd in Wales among others.

The Tandridge yew’s successful regeneration is very likely in large part due to the canopy being allowed to grow freely, and the fact that a fractured and subsided trunk section was allowed to grow out along the ground towards the lych gate. Around the time of the first world war when the tree had considerably recovered, most of the fallen trunk section was removed, but two substantial layers were sensibly left as by then it had established roots of its own. The result is that we now have new

young trees that are genetically identical with the original.

Here is a way forward in terms of a philosophy of maintenance. Yews have many survival mechanisms, and sometimes what looks to human eyes like a disaster may be one of these mechanisms in progress. On the whole, where there is no likelihood of damage to persons or property a yew should be left alone.

There are occasional exceptions, however. At Long Sutton churchyard in Hampshire a hollow ancient yew has been effectively propped. The treatment here is an excellent example of best practice. The tree is so hollow that the ‘walls’ of the trunk are only barely capable of supporting the re-growth of branch material emanating from them and there were occasional losses, as in 2000 when a metre wide section of trunk fell when overloaded by snow. Another fallen section has long been allowed to lie in situ, where it continues to grow.

A number of safe propping methods exist, at Wilmington in Sussex telegraph poles have been used to good effect, while at Long Sutton the props are squared timber with a footplate to prevent them from sinking into the ground, and rubber ties to prevent movement at the join between the prop and the branch.

Propping should always be carried out by a qualified arboriculturist. Although trouble-free when done expertly, this work has potential hazards, not least that an incorrectly installed prop fails, causing damage or injuring someone. The safety of props needs regular review and an arboriculturist’s plan should detail such aftercare. From a procedural point of view, proposals to prop a branch should be treated as if the tree was to be cut and a faculty is required.

BCD SPECIAL REPORT ON HISTORIC CHURCHES 22 ND ANNUAL EDITION

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Prop

4

5

2

6

3 North

Sections 2, 4 & 5: trunk and associated branches supported

Pro p

Section 3: living fallen branch/section

11

Prop Section 6: timber lost in 1999/2000

Section 1: dead, too low to prop – will eventually be lost entirely

Plan of the ancient north yew at Long Sutton, Hampshire showing the use of props to support branches

VANDALISM

Although inadvertent vandalism due to ill-advised arboricultural practice has been distressingly common in the past, thankfully deliberate vandalism is quite rare. Recent cases include a welldocumented ancient yew at St Mary’s Church in Iffley, Oxon which has a good claim to being contemporary with the original Norman church. This tree was completely stripped of the bark on a major limb by local youths with nothing better to do. The only course in this instance is to remove the limb, which cannot recover without bark, and to instruct the local youths.

At St Mary’s Church in Linton, Herefordshire a fire was set inside the hollow of the vast and venerable yew.

Despite the ferocity of the blaze as the inner wood burned, the tree narrowly survived and now flourishes again, another cautionary tale regarding the inadvisability of removing damaged or declining yews.

Nothing can stop vandals if they are absolutely bent on destruction, but some things can be done to reduce the risk of this kind of damage. Twiggy lower trunk growths are sharp and uninviting, mildly dangerous and often removed to show the shape of the trunk, but they do work rather well as an anti-vandal ‘coating’, so where the risk of vandal damage is present keeping such twigs should be considered.

The churchyard of St George’s Church in Crowhurst, Sussex boasts one

of the oldest yews in England, probably a pre-Christian tree. This specimen is surrounded by an iron railing, as is the huge yew at South Hayling in Hampshire.

Fencing is a good solution for reducing footfall compaction of the rooting zone of the yew and eliminating casual vandalism but done properly it can be expensive.

IVY

Ivy is not generally a problem for yews in the wild because the yew’s dense canopy and surrounding vegetation tends to shade it out. For yews managed by humans, however, it is a different story.

Raised canopies and the clearing of undergrowth allow more light to the base of a yew, helping ivy to flourish.

Ivy is a stealthy killer of old yews, once established in the canopy it will reduce the vigour of the tree through shading, and it can act like a sail, changing the wind balance and weight of upright sections which can lead to the tree being wind-felled. Ivy may be a great habitat, but if it is welcome in the churchyard it should be allowed to colonise less significant trees, not ancient yews.

ERRORS OF THE PAST

The greatest threat to historic yews has been unenlightened management.

Damaging interventions include: felling ancient specimens because they were untidy or looked ‘ill’, filling hollow trunks with everything from concrete through foam filler to plastic bottles, weed killing

PRINCIPLES OF CARE

Railings have protected this very ancient yew at Crowhurst in Sussex for over a century.

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• Only carry out work which is clearly necessary • don’t let ivy grow up the tree • if work is needed, useful non-intrusive interventions include weeding, fencing and mulching • cutting or propping the tree must be left to specialist qualified professionals; British Standards (especially BS3998:2010: Tree work. Recommendations) and Faculty legislation apply • unauthorised works to trees covered by tree protection orders or in churchyards which fall within conservation areas may lead to prosecution.1

BCD SPECIAL REPORT ON HISTORIC CHURCHES 22 ND ANNUAL EDITION

with salts over the active rooting area, chopping the top of the tree off and hoping it will regenerate… the list goes on.

Suffice it to say that humans with poisons, chainsaws and plastics in the recent past have represented the biggest threat to these trees, some of which have effectively looked after themselves since they were planted by Saxon or sometimes even older hands.

Work should never be undertaken on an old yew without expert advice.

THE TOTTERIDGE YEW

At St Andrew’s Church in Totteridge stands a very old ‘consecration yew’ of Saxon provenance, with a broad, dead-looking trunk and a small bushy canopy. The tree has a long history and was first measured by Sir John Cullum in 1677 at 26 feet in girth. Re-measures through the years yielded the same result, which remains the same to this day.

This represents a conundrum, because a growth stall of over 300 years should have killed it and the outer parts of the tree are in fact dead.

The tree survives because it is growing inside its old trunk: a mass of strong and convoluted internal roots which support most of the branches.

After three centuries like that the old trunk looks set to fall away and expose the new core that the tree has made for itself, except for a number of narrow runs of new vigorous wood which have inexplicably managed to grow up the old trunk surface like woody rivers.

The work of the churchwardens and others associated with the churchyard has been exemplary, the tree has been suitably mulched to try to invigorate it and nothing has been cut off it. It has been able to regenerate in a fashion that no-one could have predicted; an excellent intervention for a temporarily somewhat parlous Saxon yew, which has worked very well. This incredible treasure was spared removal and is responding to gentle encouragement.

Further Information The Ancient Yew Group www.ancient-yew.org TOBY HINDSON is a working horticulturist also engaged in long term empirical studies of yew growth, and a founder member of the Ancient Yew Group.

1

See Dr Charles Mynors’ ‘Unauthorised Works’, Historic Churches 2012, Paragraph 8 (www.buildingconservation.com/ articles/unauthorised-works/ unauthorised-works.htm)

FUNDING IN PARISH CHURCHES David Knight, Lisa McIntyre and Emily Greenaway

Water-staining from past leaks in the roof of the Lady Chapel of St Thomas and St Edmund, Salisbury: the church was awarded £82,000 for urgent roof repairs under the Listed Places of Worship Roof Repair Fund in 2014. (Photo: Jonathan Taylor)

E

VERY YEAR churches in England spend around £78 million on development and building maintenance. This encompasses significant adaptation to broaden the church’s range of activities, and it includes repairs and conservation to keep the building wind and watertight and in good decorative order. A further £29 million is spent on new buildings.

This total of £107 million spent is a useful proportion of the £175 million understood to be needed each year for works to church buildings, but is clearly not all of it. When the Listed Places of Worship Roof Repair Fund was launched in 2014, the speed with which applications flooded in showed just how welcome this additional funding was, especially as it was relatively easy to access. The additional £25 million that will be offered in 2016 will also be in high demand.

PRINCIPAL SOURCES OF FUNDING

In addition to the support generously given by local communities to keep their parish churches functioning, significant support is made available through the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) with £30 million available per year for essential work to places of worship in the UK. Churches can also apply to other HLF schemes, the Big Lottery or other distributors relevant to the project.

Central government provides financial assistance through the national statutory conservation bodies and through a few UK-wide schemes. (The national statutory conservation body for England is now called Historic England, and English Heritage has become a separate charity responsible for properties in care. In Scotland, Historic Scotland is being merged with RCAHMS to become Historic Environment Scotland.) This

article will focus on two national schemes for supporting listed places of worship, both of which have been affected by recent changes.

LISTED PLACES OF WORSHIP ROOF REPAIR FUND

The LPOW Roof Repair Fund grant-aids basic but necessary fabric repairs to roofs and rainwater disposal systems. It is administered by the National Heritage Memorial Fund (NHMF) on behalf of the Treasury. It was set up in December 2014 with an initial £15 million set aside by the government to address water ingress as a major reason for decay of church buildings and a potential threat to keeping them open. The Roof Repair Fund was envisaged as a one-off scheme. Despite a short application period, approximately 1,900 applications were received. As a result, the chancellor extended the fund

BCD SPECIAL REPORT ON HISTORIC CHURCHES 22 ND ANNUAL EDITION

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20th-century wall paintings at St Martin’s, Bilborough, Nottinghamshire by war artist Evelyn Gibbs, which were restored with the help of the HLF and ChurchCare (Photos: Tobit Curteis Associates)

by £40 million in the 2015 budget. This enabled the amount allocated for the initial round to be doubled to £30 million, with £25 million set aside for allocation in 2016.

The second round is expected to open in autumn 2015. It will be open to both new applicants and to previously unsuccessful applicants, who will be required to resubmit. Unsuccessful applicants will be able to request feedback to help them decide whether to reapply and how to improve their application.

The NHMF is also undertaking a rigorous review, incorporating feedback received,

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to inform a revised application form and improved guidance. Recently appointed regional officers will be attending events over the coming months and aiming to provide more dedicated support for the second round. Concerns over the short application period for the initial scheme have been noted; fortunately, the Treasury has given a broader timeframe for allocating the second round, so the intention is for the application period to be extended.

Eligibility requirements will remain unchanged. The building must be statutorily listed and used for public worship at least six times a year, but may be of any faith or denomination. An up-to-date condition survey (such as a quinquennial inspection report) must identify repairs to the roof or rainwater disposal system as urgent within five years. Churches that have a live fabric repair grant from a statutory or lottery source (such as HLF) are not eligible, but those that have funding from charities such as the National Churches Trust or a local group may apply. Churches that have received statutory funding for works that are now complete may be eligible but will be lower priority.

Grants of £10,000–100,000 will be available and may cover the full cost of the necessary repairs, excluding VAT (which should be recovered via LPOW grants). Applicants can contribute their own funds, either if their total project cost exceeds £100,000 or if they wish to minimise their grant request. Although urgency is the principal requirement, applications must be shown to be viable so it will be necessary to enlist an architect or surveyor to prepare an outline specification and cost estimate.

Applicants must be realistic in presenting their costs, including contingency, so that the assessor is assured that the project can be delivered within the scope of the grant amount. Successful applicants will need to be able to undertake their work within a two-year period from receiving permission to start, so a programme of works and cashflow are also necessary; the revised guidance will provide examples.

Further information will be available on the LPOW Roof Repair Fund website: www.lpowroof.org.uk.

THE LISTED PLACES OF WORSHIP GRANT SCHEME

VAT at the standard rate applies to many works to buildings, with some items rated at zero or 5 per cent for disabled access and energy-saving products.

The Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme (www.lpwscheme.org.uk) allows

BCD SPECIAL REPORT ON HISTORIC CHURCHES 22 ND ANNUAL EDITION

the cost of VAT incurred on works to listed places of worship to be reclaimed.

Initially this was to give a level playing field when restoration attracted VAT and new build did not. When, in 2012, changes in the VAT rules resulted in nearly all works incurring VAT, the scheme was generously extended to include nearly all works to the building and fixed furnishings. The two basic criteria for the payment of a grant for eligible works are that the building must be listed and a VAT invoice must be presented to support the claim. VAT on relevant professional fees can also be reclaimed. Although there is a minimum claim, invoices can be batched to make this value, enabling pretty much all eligible expenditure to benefit from the scheme.

UK places of worship claimed £18 million in 2014. This suggests that not all the VAT incurred on eligible works is being reclaimed. It is always worth checking if work is eligible for the scheme – the FAQs on the LPW Scheme website set this out clearly and there is a telephone helpline.

PARISH CHURCHES OF THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND

Generous local giving continues to show the commitment of many people to the church, but significant support in grant aid is necessary to help the Church of England manage its 16,000 buildings, over 12,000 of which are listed, with around 8,000 listed Grade I or II*.

ChurchCare, which is run by the Cathedral and Church Buildings Division of the Church of England (CCB), provides a range of grants for parish churches. Generally, this is in partnership with grant-giving bodies which support the investigation and conservation of the historic contents, sculpture and furnishings in Church of England churches. Some of the funding programmes are supported by The Wolfson Foundation, The Pilgrim Trust, The Radcliffe Trust, the Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths, and the Gunnis Fund. ChurchCare has over £0.5 million in funds to award every year and receives a huge number of enquiries and applications. With the help of other charitable bodies, foundations and trusts, ChurchCare awarded over £1.1 million in 2013 through 199 grants to projects in cathedrals and churches.

ChurchCare provides funding for the conservation of bells, books and manuscripts, clocks, church plate, churchyard structures, fabric repairs, metalwork, monuments, organs, paintings and wall paintings, stained glass, textiles, and timberwork. Applications are

assessed by committees, whose members include a range of experts and specialists. It funds a wide range of projects, from small-scale repair of locally important objects, to contributing to large scale, nationally important projects involving conservation, public engagement and improved access. Projects such as the repair of the Evelyn Gibbs murals at St Martin’s in Bilborough (opposite) combine funding from ChurchCare with grants from the HLF, EH, and the local historic churches trust to deliver projects with a range of outputs for heritage and people.

Initially, ChurchCare can support the investigative work required to understand an object or historic asset and to ensure that conservation proposals are appropriate. Conservation reports are an essential first step and ChurchCare provides detailed guidelines on their purpose and use (see www. churchcare.co.uk/images/Guidelines_for_Conservation_ Reports__May_2013.pdf ).

The CCB Division also works in partnership with the Wolfson Foundation Trustees to deliver a bi-annual programme of funding for urgent fabric repairs to Anglican churches listed Grade I or II* in the UK. Applications are assessed both on the need for the repair works and on the ability of the parish to contribute financially to the project. The division tries to fund a range of projects with a good geographic spread of funds across the countries and regions. It is keen to encourage more applications from northern England, as well as Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland. In many cases these grants, of up to £10,000, are requested as a partnership contribution towards a larger scheme funded through the HLF Grants for Places of Worship programme or the National Churches Trust Repair Grants programme.

The ChurchCare website also provides a wealth of information on funding and best practice, including guidance documents and links to other sources of funding, and contact details for staff in the Church Building Division who can provide further support for projects and conservation proposals.

Further Information on grants and funding ChurchCare: www.churchcare.co.uk/churches/funding-and-grants/our-grants Email enquiries.ccb@churchofengland.org LPOW Roof Repair Fund: www.lpowroof.org.uk Email enquiries@lpowroof.org.uk, Tel 01392 223 979 The Church of England is also offering support – contact Lisa McIntyre: Email lisa.mcintyre@churchofengland.org, Tel 020 7989 1864 Funds for Historic Buildings: wwwffhb.org.uk Others: for contact details for the principal church authorities see the Building Conservation website, http://bc-url.com/churches.

DAVID KNIGHT PhD is senior church buildings officer at ChurchCare.

In this role he has oversight of the work of the Church Buildings Council and its relationship with the dioceses. He has previously been ChurchCare’s senior conservation officer.

LISA McINTYRE BAGradDip is a church buildings officer for ChurchCare and the main point of contact at the Church of England for the LPOW Roof Repair Fund. She previously worked as a heritage consultant in the commercial sector.

EMILY GREENAWAY is the grants officer for ChurchCare, where she is responsible for the effective operation of the grants programme. She was previously a grants officer with the HLF.

Caroe& Partners Architects Wells | London | Cardiff | Ledbury Tel 01749 677561 | info@caroe.co.uk | www.caroe.co.uk

BCD SPECIAL REPORT ON HISTORIC CHURCHES 22 ND ANNUAL EDITION

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U S E F U L

CO N TA C T S

Allchurches Trust Limited Tel 01452 873189 Email atl@allchurches.co.uk www.allchurches.co.uk

Association for Studies in the Conservation of Historic Buildings Email info@aschb.org.uk www.aschb.org.uk

Cathedral Communications Limited Tel 01747 871717 Email info@cathcomm.co.uk www.buildingconservation.com

Ancient Monuments Society Tel 020 7236 3934 Email office@ ancientmonumentssociety.org.uk www.ancientmonumentssociety.org.uk

Association of Technical Lightning & Access Specialists Tel 0844 249 0026 Email info@atlas.org.uk www.atlas.org.uk

Cathedrals Fabric Commission for England Tel 020 7898 1888 Email anne.locke@ churchofengland.org www.churchcare.co.uk

Ancient Yew Group Tel 01234 768884 Email tim@ancient-yew.org www.ancient-yew.org

The Baptist Building Fund Tel 01536 522276 Email david.leverett@ btopenworld.com www.baptistbuildingfund.org.uk

The Anglo-Catholic History Society Tel 020 7833 1555 Email skelly785@btinternet.com www.achs.org.uk Archaeology Scotland Tel 0845 872 3333 Email info@archaeologyscotland.org.uk www.archaeologyscotland.org.uk

The Bat Conservation Trust Tel 08451 300228 Email enquiries@bats.org.uk www.bats.org.uk

Archbishops’ Council Tel 020 7898 1886 Email janet.gough@ churchofengland.org www.churchofengland.org

The British Archaeological Association Email secretary@thebaa.org www.thebaa.org

Architects Accredited in Building Conservation Tel 0161 832 0666 Email registrar@aabc-register.co.uk www.aabc-register.co.uk The Architectural Heritage Fund Tel 020 7925 0199 Email diane@ahfund.org.uk www.ahfund.org.uk The Architectural Heritage Society of Scotland Tel 0131 557 0019 Email nationaloffice@ahss.org.uk www.ahss.org.uk Art and Christianity Enquiry Tel 020 7033 9481 Email enquiries@acetrust.org www.acetrust.org The Art Loss Register Ltd Tel 020 7841 5780 Email info@artloss.com www.artloss.com Association of Burial Authorities Tel 020 7288 2522 Email aba@swa-pr.co.uk www.burials.org.uk Association of English Cathedrals Tel 020 8761 5130 Email enquiries@ englishcathedrals.co.uk www.englishcathedrals.co.uk The Association of Independent Organ Advisors www.aioa.org.uk The Association of Local Government Archaeological Officers Tel 01904 521250 Email admin@algao.org.uk www.algao.org.uk

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Baptist Union of Great Britain Tel 01235 517754 www.baptist.org.uk

British Artist Blacksmiths Association Tel 01526 830303 www.baba.org.uk The British Institute of Organ Studies Tel 01737 241355 Email hughesmelvin@hotmail.com www.bios.org.uk British Society of Master Glass Painters Tel 01643 862807 www.bsmgp.org.uk British Sundial Society Email secretary@sundialsoc.org.uk www.sundialsoc.org.uk The Building Conservation Directory Tel 01747 871717 Email info@buildingconservation.com www.buildingconservation.com The Building Limes Forum Email admin@ buildinglimesforum.org.uk www.buildinglimesforum.org.uk Cadw Tel 01443 336000 Email cadw@wales.gsi.gov.uk www.cadw.wales.gov.uk Capel – The Chapels Heritage Society Tel 01492 860449 Email obadiah1@btinternet.com www.capeli.org.uk The Carbon Trust Tel 020 7170 7000 Email info@carbontrust.com www.carbontrust.com Cathedral Architects Association www.cathedralarchitects.org

BCD SPECIAL REPORT ON HISTORIC CHURCHES 22 ND ANNUAL EDITION

Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales Tel 020 7630 8220 Email maggie.doherty@ cbcew.org.uk www.cbcew.org.uk The Chapels Society Email ChapelsSociety@gmail.com www.chapelssociety.org.uk The Chartered Association of Building Engineers Tel 01604 404121 www.cbuilde.com/home Chartered Institute for Archaeologists Tel 0118 378 6446 Email admin@archaeologists.net www.archaeologists.net The Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers Tel 020 8675 5211 www.cibse.org Church Buildings Renewal Trust Tel 0141 559 5902 Email info@cbrt.org.uk www.cbrt.org.uk The Church of England - Cathedral and Church Buildings Division Tel 020 7898 1863 Email churchcare@ churchofengland.org www.churchcare.co.uk The Church Heritage Forum Tel 020 7898 1780 The Church Monuments Society Tel 01837 851483 Email churchmonuments@aol.com www.churchmonumentssociety.org The Church of Scotland Tel 0131 225 5722 Email carta@cofscotland.org.uk www.churchofscotland.org.uk The Church in Wales Tel 029 2034 8200 Email TinaAndrew@ churchinwales.org.uk www.churchinwales.org.uk The Churches Conservation Trust Tel 020 7841 0400 Email central@thecct.org.uk www.visitchurches.org.uk Churches’ Legislation Advisory Service Tel 020 7222 1265 Email info@clas.org.uk www.churcheslegislation.org.uk

Churches Tourism Association www.churchestourism.info The Congregational Federation Ltd Tel 0115 911 1460 Email admin@congregational.org.uk www.congregational.org.uk The Conservation Accreditation Register for Engineers Tel 020 7665 2102 Email registers@ice.org.uk www.ice.org.uk/care The Conservation Register Tel 020 3142 6799 Email conservationregister@ icon.org.uk www.conservationregister.com Construction History Society Tel 01223 332950 Email secretary@ constructionhistory.co.uk www.constructionhistory.co.uk Council for British Archaeology Tel 01904 671417 Email info@archaeologyuk.org new.archaeologyuk.org DOCOMOMO (Documentation and Conservation of Buildings, Sites and Neighborhoods of the Modern Movement) – UK Tel 020 7253 6624 Email info@docomomo-uk.org www.docomomo-uk.co.uk Ecclesiastical Architects and Surveyors Association Email administrator@easanet.co.uk www.easanet.co.uk Ecclesiological Society Tel 07718 155541 Email info@ecclsoc.org www.ecclsoc.org English Heritage - see also Historic England Tel 0370 333 1181 Email customers@ english-heritage.org.uk www.english-heritage.org.uk Greater London Office Tel 020 7973 3000 National Office – Swindon Tel 01793 414700 Entrust Tel 01926 488300 www.entrust.org.uk The Friends of the City Churches Tel 020 7626 1555 Email contact_us@ london-city-churches.org.uk www.london-city-churches.org.uk Friends of Friendless Churches Tel 020 7236 3934 Email office@ friendsoffriendlesschurches.org.uk www.friendsoffriendlesschurches. org.uk

U S E F U L

CO N TA C T S

Funds for Historic Buildings Tel 020 7925 0199 Email ffhb@ahfund.org.uk www.ffhb.org.uk

North East Tel 0191 269 1217 Email northeast@ historicengland.org.uk

Institution of Structural Engineers Tel 020 7235 4535 Email mail@istructe.org www.istructe.org

Monumental Brass Society Email martinstuchfield@ pentlowhall.com www.mbs-brasses.co.uk

Future for Religious Heritage Tel +32 2400 7703 Email info@frh-europe.org www.frh-europe.org

North West Tel 0161 242 1400 Email northwest@ historicengland.org.uk

General Assembly of Unitarian and Free Christian Churches Tel 020 7240 2384 Email info@unitarian.org.uk www.unitarian.org.uk

International Council on Monuments & Sites UK Tel 020 7566 0031 Email admin@icomos-uk.org www.icomos-uk.org

National Association of Decorative and Fine Arts Societies Tel 020 7430 0730 Email enquiries@nadfas.org.uk www.nadfas.org.uk

South East Tel 01483 252000 Email southeast@ historicengland.org.uk

The International Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works Tel 020 7799 5500 Email iic@iiconservation.org www.iiconservation.org

National Churches Trust Tel 020 7600 6090 Email info@nationalchurchestrust.org www.nationalchurchestrust.org

The Georgian Group Tel 020 7529 8920 Email office@georgiangroup.org.uk www.georgiangroup.org.uk The Glaziers’ Trust Tel 020 7403 6652 Email info@worshipfulglaziers.com www.worshipfulglaziers.com Heritage Camps Tel 020 3780 5870 Email heritagecamps@ volunteeringmatters.org.uk volunteeringmatters.org.uk The Heritage Council Tel +353 5677 70777 Email mail@heritagecouncil.ie www.heritagecouncil.ie Heritage Inspired Tel 0845 652 9634 Email info@heritageinspired.org.uk www.heritageinspired.org.uk Heritage Ireland Tel +353 46 942 6000 Email info@opw.ie www.heritageireland.ie

South West Tel 0117 975 0700 Email southwest@ historicengland.org.uk West Midlands Tel 0121 625 6870 Email westmidlands@ historicengland.org.uk Yorkshire and Humber Tel 01904 601901 Email yorkshire@ historicengland.org.uk Historic Environment Scotland Historic Scotland and the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland (RCAHMS) are being replaced by a single body, Historic Environment Scotland, which will be fully operational by October 2015.

Historic Religious Buildings Alliance Tel 020 7233 0900 Email hrb@theheritagealliance.org.uk www.hrballiance.org.uk

Heritage Lottery Fund Tel 020 7591 6000 Email enquire@hlf.org.uk www.hlf.org.uk

Historic Scotland – see also Historic Environment Scotland Tel 0131 668 8600 Email hs.heritagemanagement@ scotland.gsi.gov.uk www.historic-scotland.gov.uk

Historic Chapels Trust Tel 020 7481 0533 Email chapels@hct.org.uk www.hct.org.uk

Incorporated Society of Organ Builders Email admin1@isob.co.uk www.isob.co.uk

Historic England Tel 020 7973 3700 Email customers@ historicengland.org.uk www.historicengland.org.uk Archive Tel 01793 414600 Email archive@historicengland. org.uk www.historicengland.org.uk/ images-books/archive

Industrial Rope Access Trade Association Tel 01233 754600 Email info@irata.org www.irata.org The Institute of Conservation Tel 020 3142 6799 Email info@icon.org.uk www.icon.org.uk

East of England Tel 01223 582700 Email eastofengland@ historicengland.org.uk

Institute of Historic Building Conservation Tel 01747 873133 Email admin@ihbc.org.uk www.ihbc.org.uk

East Midlands Tel 01604 735460 Email eastmidlands@ historicengland.org.uk

Institution of Civil Engineers Tel 020 7222 7722 Email phew@ice.org.uk www.ice.org.uk

Jewish Heritage UK Tel 0161 238 8621 Email director@jewish-heritage-uk.org www.jewish-heritage-uk.org Lambeth Palace Library Tel 020 7898 1400 Email archives@churchofengland.org www.lambethpalacelibrary.org The Lead Contractors Association Tel 01342 317888 Email info@lca.gb.com www.leadcontractorsassociation.com Lead Sheet Association Ltd Tel 01622 872432 Email info@leadsheet.co.uk www.leadsheet.co.uk The Leche Trust Tel 020 3233 0023 Email info@lechetrust.org www.lechetrust.org The London Stained Glass Repository Tel 020 7403 6652 Email info@worshipfulglaziers.com www.worshipfulglaziers.com/ The-London-Stained-GlassRepository-11.htm Maintain our Heritage Tel 01225 590450 Email tcantell@ maintainourheritage.co.uk www.maintainourheritage.co.uk Master Carvers Association Tel 01525 851594 Email info@mastercarvers.co.uk www.mastercarvers.co.uk Mausolea and Monuments Trust Tel 07856 985974 Email info@mmtrust.org.uk www.mmtrust.org.uk Metal Roofing Contractors Association Tel 01273 699545 Email info@mrca.org.uk www.mrca.org.uk The Methodist Church Conservation Office Tel 0161 235 6739 Email tech_cons@ property.methodist.org.uk www.methodist.org.uk

National Churchwatch Tel 01749 344992 Email nick@tolson.com www.nationalchurchwatch.com National Heritage Ironwork Group Tel 01845 501072 Email info@nhig.org.uk www.nhig.org.uk National Heritage Memorial Fund Tel 020 7591 6044 Email nhmf_enquiries@nhmf.org.uk www.nhmf.org.uk The National Heritage Training Group Tel 01246 252363 Email info@the-nhtg.org.uk www.the-nhtg.org.uk National Monuments Record of Wales Tel 01970 621210 Email nmr.wales@rcahmw.gov.uk www.rcahmw.gov.uk National Preservation Office Tel 020 7412 7612 Email npo@bl.uk www.bl.uk/npo National Records of Scotland Tel 0131 535 1314 www.nrscotland.gov.uk The National Trust Tel 0844 800 1895 Email enquiries@nationaltrust.org.uk www.nationaltrust.org.uk National Trust for Scotland Tel 0844 493 2100 Email information@nts.org.uk www.nts.org.uk Northern Ireland Environment Agency – Historic Environment Division Tel 028 9054 3095 Email bh@doeni.gov.uk www.ni-environment.gov.uk The Pilgrim Trust Tel 020 7834 6510 Email info@thepilgrimtrust.org.uk www.thepilgrimtrust.org.uk Quakers in Britain Tel 020 7663 1000 Email enquiries@quaker.org.uk www.quaker.org.uk

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U S E F U L

CO N TA C T S

Round Tower Churches Society Tel 01328 738237 Email secretary@roundtowers.org.uk www.roundtowers.org.uk

Royal Society of Architects in Wales Tel 029 2022 8987 Email rsaw@riba.org www.architecture.com/wales

Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland Tel 0131 662 1456 Email nmrs@rcahms.gov.uk www.rcahms.gov.uk

Royal Society of Ulster Architects Tel 028 9032 3760 Email info@rsua.org.uk www.rsua.org.uk

Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales Tel 01970 621210 Email nmr.wales@rcahmw.gov.uk www.rcahmw.gov.uk The Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland Tel 0131 229 7545 Email info@rias.org.uk www.rias.org.uk Royal Institute of British Architects Tel 020 7580 5533 Email info@riba.org www.architecture.com Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors Tel 024 7686 8555 Email contactrics@rics.org www.rics.org Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors – Building Conservation Accreditation Scheme Tel 020 7695 1795 Email schemes@rics.org www.rics.org/uk/join/memberaccreditations-list/buildingconservation-accreditation

The Salvation Army Tel 020 7367 4500 Email info@salvationarmy.org.uk www.salvationarmy.org.uk

The Scottish Stained Glass Trust & Symposium Email Scotstainedglass@aol.com Society of Architectural Historians of Great Britain Email honsecretary@sahgb.org.uk www.sahgb.org.uk Society for Church Archaeology Email churcharchaeology@gmail.com www.archaeologyuk.org/ socchurcharchaeol

United Reformed Church Tel 020 7916 2020 Email urc@urc.org.uk www.urc.org.uk Victoria County History Tel 020 7862 8740 Email info@victoriacountyhistory.ac.uk www.victoriacountyhistory.ac.uk The Victorian Society Tel 020 8994 1019 Email admin@victoriansociety.org.uk www.victoriansociety.org.uk

SAVE Britain’s Heritage Tel 020 7253 3500 Email office@savebritainsheritage.org www.savebritainsheritage.org

The Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings Tel 020 7377 1644 Email info@spab.org.uk www.spab.org.uk

Scotland’s Churches Trust Tel 0131 225 8644 Email info@ scotlandschurchestrust.org.uk www.scotlandschurchestrust.org.uk

The Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings in Scotland Tel 0131 557 1551 Email scotland@spab.org.uk www.spab.org.uk/spab-in-scotland

Welsh Church Fund Tel 01269 590216 Email communitybureau@ carmarthenshire.gov.uk www.carmarthenshire.gov.uk

Scottish Catholic Historical Association Tel 0131 556 3661 Email archivists@ scottishcatholicarchives.org.uk www.scottishcatholicarchives.org.uk

Stained Glass Museum Tel 01353 660347 Email curator@ stainedglassmuseum.com www.stainedglassmuseum.com

Welsh Religious Buildings Trust Tel 01766 515590 Email post@addoldaicymru.org www.welshchapels.org

The Scottish Government – Built Environment Directorate Tel 0131 244 7888 Email ceu@scotland.gsi.gov.uk www.gov.scot/about/people/ directorates/built-environment The Scottish Redundant Churches Trust Tel 0131 563 5135 Email contact@srct.org.uk www.srct.org.uk

The Strict Baptist Historical Society Email thesecretary@sbhs.org.uk www.strictbaptisthistory.org.uk The Twentieth Century Society Tel 020 7250 3857 Email coordinator@c20society.org.uk www.c20society.org.uk Ulster Architectural Heritage Society Tel 028 9055 0213 Email info@uahs.org.uk www.uahs.org.uk

War Memorials Trust Tel 020 7233 7356 Email conservation@warmemorials.org www.warmemorials.org

Wesley Historical Society Email himsworth@bbmax.co.uk www.wesleyhistoricalsociety.org.uk World Monuments Fund Britain Tel 020 7251 8142 Email enquiries@wmf.org.uk www.wmf.org.uk The Worshipful Company of Glaziers and Painters of Glass Tel 020 7403 6652 Email info@worshipfulglaziers.com www.worshipfulglaziers.com

THE BUILDING CONSERVATION DIRECTORY

IN PRINT AND ONLINE

The accumulated wisdom of 22 years, accessed by 75,000 visitors per month

44

BCD SPECIAL REPORT ON HISTORIC CHURCHES 22 ND ANNUAL EDITION

PR O D U C T S

INDEX

◾◾ ACCESS SPECIALISTS

ACCESS SPECIALISTS........................................................................................45

HERITAGE STONE ACCESS See advertisement on page 10.

ARCHITECTS........................................................................................................45

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PARAMOUNT PLATFORMS LTD See advertisement on the inside back cover.

BRICK SUPPLIERS...............................................................................................47 BUILDING CONTRACTORS............................................................................47 CLAY TILES & ROOF FEATURES...................................................................47 DAMP & TIMBER DECAY................................................................................48 DOOR & WINDOW FITTINGS......................................................................48 FINE ART CONSERVATORS............................................................................48 HEATING................................................................................................................48 INTERIORS CONSERVATORS & DECORATORS.....................................48 LEAD SUPPLIERS.................................................................................................48 LIGHTING..............................................................................................................48 MASONRY CLEANING.....................................................................................48 MATERIALS ANALYSTS....................................................................................49 ORGAN BUILDERS & RESTORERS...............................................................49 ORGANISATIONS...............................................................................................49 PLASTERWORK & SCULPTURE....................................................................49 QUANTITY SURVEYORS.................................................................................49 ROOF DRAINAGE...............................................................................................50 SECONDARY GLAZING....................................................................................50 STAINED GLASS..................................................................................................50 STONE.....................................................................................................................50 STRUCTURAL ENGINEERS..............................................................................51 STRUCTURAL REPAIRS & STABILISATION..............................................51

◾◾ ARCHITECTS ACANTHUS CLEWS ARCHITECTS Acanthus House, 57 Hightown Road, Banbury, Oxfordshire OX16 9BE Tel 01295 702600 Fax 01295 702601 Email architects@ acanthusclews.co.uk www.acanthusclews.co.uk With an expert knowledge of ecclesiastical buildings, Acanthus Clews’ team of AABC accredited architects continues to carry out grant aided repairs and reordering projects on many Grade I and II* churches and cathedrals including Exeter and Worcester. Current Heritage Lottery Fund and Listed Places of Worship projects include Evesham Bell Tower, Church of St Mary the Virgin, Long Crendon and St Edburg’s Church, Bicester. The firm’s sustainable monastery, Mucknell Abbey, won the EASA President’s Award 2011, and the reordering and extension at St Thomas of Canterbury Church, Goring on Thames, won the RIBA South Conservation Award 2010.

ARROL & SNELL LTD St Mary’s Hall, St Mary’s Court, Shrewsbury SY1 1EG Tel 01743 241111 Fax 01743 241142 Email admin@arrolandsnell.co.uk www.arrolandsnell.co.uk Over 30 years experience of high-end conservation work and challenging new-build developments in historic settings. Major schemes include Chester Cathedral and York Minster. Clients include English Heritage, many historic buildings preservation trusts, local authorities and private bodies. Services offered include building and landscape design, grant applications, feasibility studies, building surveys and historical research.

SURVEYORS..........................................................................................................51 TEXTILES................................................................................................................52 WALL PAINTING CONSERVATORS.............................................................52 EVERYTHING ELSE.............................................................................................52

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CARDEN & GODFREY ARCHITECTS 33 Clerkenwell Close, London EC1R 0AU Tel 020 7490 0300 Fax 020 7490 0004 Email mail@ cardenandgodfrey.co.uk www.cardenandgodfrey.co.uk Specialists in all aspects of historic architecture: conservation, repairs, new buildings in sensitive areas, interior design, etc. Clients include the National Trust, English Heritage, Historic Royal Palaces, Worcester College, Oxford, Rochester Cathedral and churches. Photograph shows the interior of Whatlington church, rebuilt after a lightning strike.

CAROE & PARTNERS ARCHITECTS 18 Deane House Studios, 27 Greenwood Place, London NW5 1LB Tel 020 7267 9348 Fax 020 7267 9344 Email admin@ london.caroe.co.uk • Penniless Porch, Market Place, Wells, Somerset BA5 2RB Tel 01749 677561 Fax 01749 676207 Email wells@caroe.co.uk • 98 Cardiff Road, Llandaff, Cardiff CF5 2DT Tel 02920 577585 Fax 02920 555106 Email llandaff@caroe.co.uk • Sear House, Bye Street, Ledbury, Herefordshire HR8 2AA Tel 01531 634848 Fax 01531 633273 Email ledbury@caroe.co.uk www.caroe.co.uk Caroe & Partners has nationally-recognised expertise in the conservation of historic and listed buildings and the design of imaginative new buildings in sensitive sites, with a large portfolio of work on churches, cathedrals, National Trust and other charitable trust properties, major historic buildings and private houses. The company is passionate about preserving historic buildings and working closely with clients. Caroe’s philosophy is to repair and conserve the fabric of a building, with minimum disturbance to the structure, while offering creative and sustainable proposals for alterations as required.

The company also offers an archaeological service for analysis and recording of standing buildings. See advertisement on page 41.

CHEDBURN DUDLEY Limpley Mill, Limpley Stoke, Bath BA2 7FJ Tel 01225 859999 Fax 01225 723990 Email chedburn@ chedburn.com www.chedburn.com The conservation practice, Chedburn Dudley, aims to produce imaginative, sensitive and environmentally-aware design solutions, set within the historic built environment. The practice’s work covers the conservation, restoration, alteration and refurbishment of historic buildings that require a specific set of skills and rigorous attention to detail. With many years experience across a broad spectrum of projects, Chedburn Dudley offers an alternative to the larger practices in this field.

DONALD INSALL ASSOCIATES 12 Devonshire Street, London W1G 7AB Tel 020 7245 9888 Fax 020 7235 4370 Email london@ insall-architects.co.uk www.insall-architects.co.uk • Bath Tel 01225 469898 • Belfast Tel 028 9024 6738 • Cambridge Tel 01223 303111 • Chester Tel 01244 350063 • Conwy Tel 01492 592378 • Shrewsbury Tel 01743 351244 • Trinidad & Tobago Tel +1 868 625 6841 The practice has more than 50 years’ experience in the care of historic buildings and towns, including inspection, repair and reordering of churches.

Members are approved as inspecting architects by the dioceses of Bangor, Canterbury, Chelmsford, Chester, Chichester, Durham, Hereford, Lichfield, Lincoln, London, Norwich, Oxford, Peterborough, Southwark and St Albans.

JOHNSTON AND WRIGHT 15 Castle Street, Carlisle, Cumbria CA3 8TD Tel 01228 525161 Fax 01228 515559 Email alastair.mcgregor@jwarchitects.co.uk www.jwarchitects.co.uk Founded in 1885, award-winning Johnston and Wright has an extensive track record in repair, restoration, conservation and alteration of church buildings and their surroundings utilising practical experience of traditional building materials and innovative contemporary design. Quinquennial surveys, feasibility studies, reordering proposals, maintenance, repair and development management. Alastair McGregor is AABC accredited.

MRDA See advertisement on page 9.

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BCD SPECIAL REPORT ON HISTORIC CHURCHES 22 ND ANNUAL EDITION

PR O D U C T S PURCELL See advertisement on page 9.

THE WHITWORTH CO-PARTNERSHIP LLP 18 Hatter Street, Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk IP33 1NE Tel 01284 760421 Fax 01284 704734 • 1 The Close, Norwich NR1 4DH Tel 01603 626782 Email info@whitcp.co.uk www.wcp-architects.com Contact Mark Cleveland Chartered architects and building surveyors. Modern design solutions and reorderings. The practice acts as consultant to all denominations, and is experienced in the diagnosis of building defects, quinquennial inspection reports, sensitive structural repairs and the conservation of building elements and materials. Work undertaken in the East of England from London to Newcastle.

◾◾ BRICK SUPPLIERS THE YORK HANDMADE BRICK COMPANY LIMITED See advertisement on page 15.

◾◾ BUILDING CONTRACTORS BETWEEN TIME LTD Bachelors Hall, High Street, Stanstead Abbotts, Nr Ware, Hertfordshire SG12 8AB Tel 01920 877822 Fax 01920 877933 Email info@betweentime.uk.com www.betweentime.uk.com Undertaking conservation contracts to historic buildings.

30 years of care and repair to listed buildings, churches and heritage sites in Hertfordshire, Essex and London. Teams of skilled craftsmen work with lime renders and mortars, handmade bricks, stone and flint, architectural joinery, lead and metal sheet roofing, cast iron and period decoration.

BUILDING CONSERVATION (UK) LTD See advertisement on page 27.

C E L LTD See advertisement on page 28.

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S E RV I C E S

CONSERVATION BUILDING SERVICES LTD Bryngwilla Lodge, Gledrid, Oswestry, Shropshire SY10 7AY Tel 01691 770605 Fax 08707 620764 Email info@cbsconservation.co.uk www.cbsconservation.co.uk CBS Ltd is a specialist building conservation company based in Oswestry, north Shropshire. It offers considerable expertise in the repair, conservation and restoration of ecclesiastical and historic buildings and monuments throughout the United Kingdom and Ireland.

In addition to work with prominent conservation architects, the company also works with English Heritage, Cadw, National Trust, The Churches Conservation Trust and numerous parochial church councils and private clients.

HALL CONSTRUCTION LIMITED Units 2 & 4, Tannery Yard, Witney Street, Burford, Oxfordshire OX18 4DQ Tel 01933 822110 Fax 01933 823880 Email enquiries@ hallconstruction.co.uk www.hallconstruction.co.uk Since 1983, Hall Construction has been renovating, refurbishing and developing character properties, including ecclesiastical buildings, using a team of highly skilled craftsmen. From maintenance and repairs to major remodelling, Hall Construction has the understanding and insight that its skilled craftsmen have developed over many years.

OWLSWORTH See advertisement on page 27.

STONEWEST LIMITED See advertisement on the inside front cover.

◾◾ CLAY TILES & ROOF FEATURES WILLOW TILES LTD PO Box 177, Battle TN33 3ED Tel 01580 236299 Mobile 07809 847135 Email willowtiles@webplus.net www.willowtiles.co.uk Suppliers of handmade clay roof tiles, Kent Pegs and Sussex Nibs developed using traditional moulds to ensure a distinctive rustic look. The tiles are dried naturally before being fired in a kiln using renewable energy sources. Traditional firing techniques ensure the tiles meet EN/ British Standards in respect frost, strength and impermeability.

They also retain an aged finish necessary for blending in with existing materials, so necessary in conservation areas.

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◾◾ DAMP & TIMBER DECAY HUTTON + ROSTRON ENVIRONMENTAL INVESTIGATIONS LIMITED Netley House, Gomshall, Surrey GU5 9QA Tel 01483 203221 Fax 01483 202911 Email ei@handr.co.uk www.handr.co.uk Consultants and surveyors on timber decay, masonry, building failures and environments. Simple, cost-effective solutions to common problems with expertise covering fungal decay, insect attack, timber strength grading, damp, environmental monitoring, non-destructive surveying, building monitoring systems and historic building consultancy. H+R operates the Rothound® dry rot search dogs and installs Curator® electronic moisture and environmental monitoring systems including gutter overflow alarm systems.

◾◾ DOOR & WINDOW FITTINGS MBL 3c St Francis Way, Shefford Industrial Park, Shefford, Bedfordshire SG17 5DZ Tel 01462 811212 Fax 01462 811901 Email info@mblai.co.uk www.mblai.co.uk Founded in 1990, MBL provides a quality service for restoration, repair and replication of historic and period ironmongery, locks and keys.

◾◾ FINE ART CONSERVATORS

66a High Street, Saffron Walden, Essex CB10 1EE Tel 01799 522402 Email howellandbellion@ btconnect.com Specialist church decorators and restorers. Many years experience and knowledge have resulted in a prestigious client list. New schemes are undertaken as well as the cleaning and conservation of existing decoration. Projects large or small, interior or exterior.

Specialist advice and information is available.

◾◾ LEAD SUPPLIERS MIDLAND LEAD LTD Kiln Way, Woodville, Swadlincote, Derbyshire DE11 8ED Tel 01283 244555 Fax 01283 550284 Email heritage@midlandlead.co.uk www.midlandlead.co.uk Follow us on: Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Pinterest and Google+ Midland Lead is a UK-based lead sheet manufacturer able to offer a range of modern and traditional roofing solutions: from sandcast lead to building paper and decorative lead motifs.

Contact the company’s heritage lead experts about traditional building conservation and refurbishment projects or for a quote.

See advertisement on page 28.

◾◾ LIGHTING

FRANCIS DOWNING ACR SPECIALIST PAINTINGS CONSERVATOR AIFCA See advertisement on page 15.

LIGHT PERCEPTIONS See advertisement on page 9.

◾◾ HEATING

◾◾ MASONRY CLEANING

J & J W LONGBOTTOM LTD Bridge Foundry, Holmfirth, Huddersfield HD9 7AW Tel 01484 682141 Fax 01484 681513 www.longbottomfoundry.co.uk Ornamental gratings for heating duct systems are produced by this long-established traditional foundry. In addition to a wide range of standard patterns, castings to match other existing designs can be produced. Catalogue available on request. See entry in Roof Drainage, page 50.

CLIVEDEN CONSERVATION WORKSHOP LTD South East, Head office – The Tennis Courts, Cliveden Estate, Taplow, Maidenhead, Berkshire SL6 0JA Tel 01628 604721 Fax 01628 660379 • West, Bath office – Home Farm, Ammerdown Estate, Kilmersdon, Bath, Somerset BA3 5SN Tel 01761 420300 Fax 01761 420400 Email info@clivedenconservation.com • East and North, Houghton office – The Old Coach House, Houghton, Norfolk PE31 6TY Tel 01485 528970 Fax 01485 529336 Email enq.houghton@clivedenconservation.com www.clivedenconservation.com Stone and plasterwork, monuments, sculpture, mosaic and wall paintings conservation. See advertisement on page 41 and profile entry in Stone, page 50.

◾◾ INTERIORS CONSERVATORS & DECORATORS CAMPBELL SMITH & CO LTD See advertisement on page 19.

CLOUGH HARRIS LIMITED See advertisement on page 19.

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BCD SPECIAL REPORT ON HISTORIC CHURCHES 22 ND ANNUAL EDITION

PR O D U C T S

◾◾ MATERIALS ANALYSTS

◾◾ ORGANISATIONS

CLIVEDEN CONSERVATION WORKSHOP LTD South East, Head office – The Tennis Courts, Cliveden Estate, Taplow, Maidenhead, Berkshire SL6 0JA Tel 01628 604721 Fax 01628 660379 • West, Bath office – Home Farm, Ammerdown Estate, Kilmersdon, Bath, Somerset BA3 5SN Tel 01761 420300 Fax 01761 420400 Email info@clivedenconservation.com • East and North, Houghton office – The Old Coach House, Houghton, Norfolk PE31 6TY Tel 01485 528970 Fax 01485 529336 Email enq.houghton@clivedenconservation.com www.clivedenconservation.com Stone and plasterwork, monuments, sculpture, mosaic and wall paintings conservation. See advertisement on page 41 and profile entry in Stone, page 50.

NATIONAL CHURCHES TRUST

◾◾ ORGAN BUILDERS & RESTORERS GEORGE SIXSMITH & SON LTD Hillside Organ Works, Carrhill Road, Mossley, Lancashire OL5 0SE Tel 01457 833009 Fax 01457 835439 Email info@geo6.co.uk www.georgesixsmithandsonltd.co.uk New pipe organs, rebuilding, restoration and maintenance. Also specialist woodworking, furniture, architectural details design and manufacture.

MARTIN GOETZE & DOMINIC GWYNN LTD 1 East Workshops, Welbeck, Worksop, Nottinghamshire S80 3LW Tel 01909 485635 Fax 01909 532133 Email dominic@ goetzegwynn.co.uk www.goetzegwynn.co.uk Craft workshop specialising in the manufacture of classical English organs using traditional materials and techniques, and the meticulous restoration of historic classical organs.

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S E RV I C E S

7 Tufton Street, London SW1P 3QP Tel 020 776 6090 Fax 020 7600 6090 Email info@ nationalchurchestrust.org www.nationalchurchestrust.org Sadly, many of the UK’s historic churches, chapels and meeting houses are showing their age. In the last five years, the National Churches Trust has provided over 1,000 grants to churches and chapels to fund urgent repairs and essential modernisation. Become a Friend of the National Churches Trust today and help it preserve and enhance these unique and essential buildings for future generations. Churches may be historic buildings, but they can be part of the future, too.

◾◾ PLASTERWORK & SCULPTURE CLIVEDEN CONSERVATION WORKSHOP LTD South East, Head office – The Tennis Courts, Cliveden Estate, Taplow, Maidenhead, Berkshire SL6 0JA Tel 01628 604721 Fax 01628 660379 • West, Bath office – Home Farm, Ammerdown Estate, Kilmersdon, Bath, Somerset BA3 5SN Tel 01761 420300 Fax 01761 420400 Email info@clivedenconservation.com • East and North, Houghton office – The Old Coach House, Houghton, Norfolk PE31 6TY Tel 01485 528970 Fax 01485 529336 Email enq.houghton@clivedenconservation.com www.clivedenconservation.com Stone and plasterwork, monuments, sculpture, mosaic and wall paintings conservation. See advertisement on page 41 and profile entry in Stone, page 50.

◾◾ QUANTITY SURVEYORS SYNERGY BARE LEANING & BARE 2 Bath Street, Bath, Somerset BA1 1SA Tel 01225 461704 Email bath@synergyllp.com www.synergyllp.com The partnership has extensive experience in the repair, alteration and extension of churches and church-owned properties throughout the UK. A full range of QS and project management services are offered, together with costing of quinquennial reports, grant aid applications, CDM co-ordination and VAT liability advice. Clients include many cathedrals and Anglican, Roman Catholic and non-conformist churches.

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◾◾ ROOF DRAINAGE

◾◾ STONE

J & J W LONGBOTTOM LTD Bridge Foundry, Holmfirth, Huddersfield HD9 7AW Tel 01484 682141 Fax 01484 681513 www.longbottomfoundry.co.uk Long-established foundry producing cast iron rainwater goods, gutters, pipes and fittings, air bricks and ornamental heads. Ex stock service on all standard items. Special requirements, including curved gutters, made promptly. Catalogue available on request. See entry in Heating, page 48.

A F JONES STONEMASONS LTD

JOHN WILLIAMS & CO LTD See advertisement on page 28.

◾◾ SECONDARY GLAZING SELECTAGLAZE LTD Alban Park, Hatfield Road, St Albans, Hertfordshire AL4 0JJ Tel 01727 837271 Fax 01727 844053 Email enquiries@ selectaglaze.co.uk www.selectaglaze.co.uk Thermal and sound insulation.

Established since 1966, Royal Warrant Holder Selectaglaze is one of the UK’s leading specialist designers of secondary glazing systems.

Secondary glazing is a reversible adaptation which is recommended by heritage bodies and offers significantly improved energy efficiency, noise insulation, draught proofing and with strengthened glass and locks, a comforting level of security. Selectaglaze provides assistance with designs and finishes that are sympathetic to the architectural character of the building and existing décor. All windows are bespoke and discreetly fitted with minimum disruption. Product literature and data sheets covering performance research results are available through the company’s website or by post upon request.

LEICESTER STAINED GLASS & GLAZING See advertisement on page 10.

CLIVEDEN CONSERVATION WORKSHOP LTD South East, Head office – The Tennis Courts, Cliveden Estate, Taplow, Maidenhead, Berkshire SL6 0JA Tel 01628 604721 Fax 01628 660379 • West, Bath office – Home Farm, Ammerdown Estate, Kilmersdon, Bath, Somerset BA3 5SN Tel 01761 420300 Fax 01761 420400 Email info@ clivedenconservation.com • East and North, Houghton office – The Old Coach House, Houghton, Norfolk PE31 6TY Tel 01485 528970 Fax 01485 529336 Email enq.houghton@clivedenconservation.com www.clivedenconservation.com Established in 1982 as the National Trust Statuary Workshop, independent since 1991. Retained as the National Trust centre for the conservation of statuary, stone and plasterwork. Also serving English Heritage and the Royal Palaces. Projects extensively in country houses and churches. Consultancy service, specifications, security work and materials analysis.

See advertisement on page 41.

YORK GLAZIERS TRUST See advertisement on page 10.

PIERRA RESTORATION See advertisement on the outside back cover.

◾◾ STAINED GLASS

50

33 Bedford Road, Reading, Berkshire RG1 7EX Tel 0118 957 3537 Fax 0118 957 4334 Email angus@afjones.co.uk www.afjones.co.uk Established in 1865 by Arthur F Jones and continued today by A G Jones, this firm has the accumulated experience and expertise of five generations of stonemasons. Currently employing 20 skilled craftsmen restoring, carving, cleaning and conserving stone facades.

A complete service from consultancy and specification to production and site fixing.

Contractor for Churches Conservation Trust, English Heritage, National Trust and Historic Royal Palaces.

BCD SPECIAL REPORT ON HISTORIC CHURCHES 22 ND ANNUAL EDITION

PR O D U C T S WELDON STONE ENTERPRISES LTD 106 Kettering Road, Weldon, Corby, Northamptonshire NN17 3JG Tel 01536 261545 Fax 01536 262140 Email peter@weldonstone.co.uk www.weldonstone.co.uk Weldon Stone is a well established company with experience in the restoration and conservation of churches, stately homes, and other listed buildings. Weldon takes pride in producing accurately sawn and worked masonry, fixed by teams of masons who understand the importance of careful handling and traditional techniques.

◾◾ STRUCTURAL ENGINEERS BLACKETT-ORD CONSERVATION ENGINEERING 33 Chapel Street, Appleby-in-Westmorland, Cumbria CA16 6QR • Century Buildings, 31 North John Street, Liverpool L2 6RG Tel 01768 352572 Email engineering@blackett-ordconservation.co.uk www.blackett-ordconservation.co.uk This practice includes CARE and AABC accredited architect and structural engineers and specialises in the repair of historic buildings in the North and North West of England, southern Scotland and Wales. Recent projects include: Manchester Cathedral height-adjustable dais, bell frames and towers, spires, masonry movement and decay, timber and concrete roof repairs and assessment of long-term structural movement. Contact Charles Blackett-Ord, Engineer Accredited in Conservation (CARE).

CHRIS PIKE ASSOCIATES The Old Malthouse, 3 The Maltings, Springfields, Newport, Shropshire TF10 7EZ Tel 01952 581751 Email enquiry@cpaconservation.co.uk www.cpaconservation.co.uk Chris Pike Associates, historic environment engineers, provides specialist consultancy advice and engineering design services in the field of historic environment conservation. The practice is managed by Christopher Ian Pike, who is a Conservation Accredited Engineer and Chartered Structural Engineer with over 30 years consultancy practice experience, including project work on many traditional parish churches and vernacular Welsh chapels.

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THE MORTON PARTNERSHIP LTD Old Timber Yard House, 55 The Timber Yard, Drysdale Street, London N1 6ND Tel 020 7324 7270 Fax 020 7729 1196 Email london@ themortonpartnership.co.uk • Leonardo House, 11 Market Place, Halesworth, Suffolk IP19 8BA Tel 01986 875651 Fax 01986 875085 Email halesworth@ themortonpartnership.co.uk www.themortonpartnership. co.uk Clients include over 500 churches and 25 cathedrals.

Assistance varies from preliminary advice and structural surveys to major design projects. All forms of conservation construction – brick, stone, timber, iron – are part of everyday business. Projects include Canterbury Cathedral, St Barnabas’ Pimlico Spire and Angel Award Winner St James’, Ab Kettleby.

◾◾ STRUCTURAL REPAIRS & STABILISATION CINTEC INTERNATIONAL LIMITED 11 Gold Tops, Newport, South Wales NP20 4PH Tel 01633 246614 Fax 01633 246110 Email johnbrooks@cintec.co.uk www.cintec.co.uk Religious buildings have traditionally been built from long lasting materials, but despite the original quality long exposures to harsh climates can ultimately cause major problems to their structures. These buildings often have high and massive unreinforced masonry walls and buttressed towers, built with multiple layers of stone, brick and rubble. Engineers and building conservation experts faced with the special problems of great religious buildings are pleased to use the Cintec grouted anchor system which is installed entirely within the fabric of the structure, leaving no visible change to the outward appearance.

◾◾ SURVEYORS THE WHITWORTH CO-PARTNERSHIP LLP 18 Hatter Street, Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk IP33 1NE Tel 01284 760421 Fax 01284 704734 • 22a North Street, Bishops Stortford, Hertfordshire CM23 2LW Tel 01279 507775 Email wcp.boniface@btinternet.com www.wcp-surveyors.com Contact Stephen Boniface See entry in Architects, page 47.

BCD SPECIAL REPORT ON HISTORIC CHURCHES 22 ND ANNUAL EDITION

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A D V E RT I S E R S

I N D E X

A F Jones (Stonemasons) Ltd............................................................................................................50

◾◾ TEXTILES

Acanthus Clews Architects Ltd.......................................................................................................45

WATTS & CO LTD 7 Tufton Street, Westminster, London SW1P 3QE Tel 020 7222 7169 Fax 020 7233 1130 Email enquiries@ wattsandco.com www.wattsandco.com Watts offers a famous collection of historic 19th and 20th century architectdesigned textiles. Available in silk, wool and cotton, in authentic colours. These textiles are invaluable in the recreation of period interiors of churches and buildings of the past 200 years.

Arrol & Snell Ltd............................................................................................................................................45 Between Time Ltd........................................................................................................................................47 Blackett-Ord Conservation Engineers........................................................................................51 Building Conservation (UK) Ltd......................................................................................................27 The Building Conservation Directory................................................................................44, 52 C E L Ltd................................................................................................................................................................28 Campbell Smith & Co Ltd....................................................................................................................19 Carden & Godfrey Architects............................................................................................................46 Caroe & Partners Architects......................................................................................................41, 46 The Cathedral Studios.................................................................................................................................9 Chedburn Dudley.........................................................................................................................................46 Chris Pike Associates..................................................................................................................................51 Cintec International Limited...............................................................................................................51 Cliveden Conservation Workshop Ltd..................................................41, 48, 49, 50, 52

◾◾ WALL PAINTING CONSERVATORS CLIVEDEN CONSERVATION WORKSHOP LTD South East, Head office – The Tennis Courts, Cliveden Estate, Taplow, Maidenhead, Berkshire SL6 0JA Tel 01628 604721 Fax 01628 660379 • West, Bath office – Home Farm, Ammerdown Estate, Kilmersdon, Bath, Somerset BA3 5SN Tel 01761 420300 Fax 01761 420400 Email info@clivedenconservation.com • East and North, Houghton office – The Old Coach House, Houghton, Norfolk PE31 6TY Tel 01485 528970 Fax 01485 529336 Email enq.houghton@clivedenconservation.com www.clivedenconservation.com Stone and plasterwork, monuments, sculpture, mosaic and wall paintings conservation. See advertisement on page 41 and profile entry in Stone, page 50.

Clough Harris Limited...............................................................................................................................19 Conservation Building Services Ltd..............................................................................................47 Donald Insall Associates Ltd...............................................................................................................46 Francis Downing ACR Specialist Paintings Conservator AIFCA........................15 George Sixsmith & Son Ltd.................................................................................................................49 Hall Construction..........................................................................................................................................47 Heritage Stone Access..............................................................................................................................10 Howell & Bellion............................................................................................................................................48 Hutton + Rostron Environmental Investigations Limited.......................................48 J & J W Longbottom Ltd...............................................................................................................48, 50 John Williams & Co Ltd..........................................................................................................................28 Johnston and Wright.................................................................................................................................46 Leicester Stained Glass & Glazing..................................................................................................10 Light Perceptions..............................................................................................................................................9 M B L........................................................................................................................................................................48 M R D A...................................................................................................................................................................9

◾◾ EVERYTHING ELSE THE BUILDING CONSERVATION DIRECTORY Cathedral Communications Limited High Street, Tisbury, Wiltshire SP3 6HA Tel 01747 871717 Email bcd@cathcomm.co.uk www.buildingconservation.com For all your specialist products and service requirements and loads of useful information, order the latest edition of The Building Conservation Directory.

Martin Goetze & Dominic Gwynn Ltd....................................................................................49 Midland Lead Ltd................................................................................................................................28, 48 The Morton Partnership Ltd..............................................................................................................51 National Churches Trust........................................................................................................................49 Owlsworth..........................................................................................................................................................27 Paramount Platforms Ltd............................................................................... inside back cover Pierra Restoration...............................................................................................outside back cover Purcell.........................................................................................................................................................................9 Selectaglaze Ltd..............................................................................................................................................50 Stonewest Limited................................................................................................inside front cover Synergy Bare Leaning & Bare..............................................................................................................49 Watts & Co Ltd...............................................................................................................................................52 Weldon Stone Enterprises Ltd..........................................................................................................51 The Whitworth Co-Partnership LLP..................................................................................47, 51 Willow Tiles Ltd..............................................................................................................................................47 www.buildingconservation.com......................................................................................................44 The York Glaziers Trust............................................................................................................................10 The York Handmade Brick Company Limited...................................................................15

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BCD SPECIAL REPORT ON HISTORIC CHURCHES 22 ND ANNUAL EDITION

Paramount Access Platforms

• Specialist powered access hire.

• Expert practitioners, experienced, certificated operators or self drive.

• Sophisticated, modern equipment. Compact, lightweight. Ability to pass through personnel doorway (0.8 x 1.9m).

Heights to over 50m.

• Electric and battery powered for emission free, quiet operation.

• Interior and exterior applications. Wheeled and tracked equipment.

• Sympathetic care of property fabric and flooring.

Protection of flooring and ground surfaces.

• Free and friendly advice by phone or at site.

• UK National Coverage.

• Day/night/weekend, all hours and fast response.

Silent battery power to 42 metres height with max 230 Kgs SWL

Paramount Platforms Ltd, The Rough Hill Complex, The Tye, East Hanningfield, Chelmsford, Essex CM3 8BY

01245 401110 Out of hours (24/7) 07754 162878

www.paramountplatforms.com

PIERRA RESTORATION LTD “Conserving our past and building for the future”

Building Restoration, Conservation & Stone Masonry

ISO 14001

OHSAS 18001

Accredited Contractor

Registered Company

0 0 8 2 7

Unit C4, Water House, Texcel Business Park, Thames Road, Crayford DA1 4TQ Tel: 01322 556691 Fax: 01322 556692 Email: enquiries@pierra.co.uk

www.pierra.co.uk