Church Repairs Completed

It was on Monday 25 April 2016 that contractors arrived at the site of Saint Mary the Virgin and All Saints’ Church, Fotheringhay, to begin the work to establish a new drainage system externally and install toilets, create a kitchen servery and flower preparation facility, as part of the project to improve the facilities within the building.

With that phase of work completed, the church now has new perforated collector land drains, complete with catch pits and inspection chambers constructed and a more effective drainage system, foul drain and trench arch installed. The work to provide universally accessible and unisex toilet facilities has also been completed. The kitchen servery and flower preparation facilities have been installed and are fully operational.

The month of June 2017 saw contractors arrive at the site of St Mary & All Saints Church, Fotheringhay, to begin the seventeen month programme of restoration and refurbishment, involving the replacement of the four roofs, north and south aisle, nave and tower, the repair and cleaning of windows, the renewal of guttering, rainwater goods and ironmongery and the renovation of masonry.

Initially, the most obvious aspect of the work undertaken was the construction of a massive scaffolding and temporary roof structure covering the tower and nave. Once the scaffolding was of sufficient height contractors began the task of removing the tower roof, at which point it became clear that the concealed structural timbers had slowly disintegrated as time had been ticking away. The wall plates needed to be replaced and the spanning timbers needed to be reinforced with additive structural splices.

Bespoke beams of fine grain oak, selected for its strength, resilience and longevity, have now replaced ‘the old,’ wearied by the ravages of time and climate, in the hope that ‘the new’ may serve their purpose for the next five hundred years. The tower roof has been completely renewed, with recycled lead covering including ancient graffiti and new access dormer and ladder. New tower drainage spouts have been installed and the re-gilded Fetterlock and Falcon weathervane is once again in position. The blown leaded windows in the octagonal lantern tower have been reglazed and replaced. Tower masonry drainage guttering has been refurbished and asphalt painted. The original lead louvres of the tower were cleaned and reinstated and repairs have been effected to the casement windows of the ringing chamber.
Trusses supporting the nave roof were investigated and replaced where rot was identified, a consequence of defective drainage.

Masonry work has been undertaken at all levels from the tower down with new stone pieces carved when the old was not salvageable. Glazing specialists raced ahead of the scaffolders making maximum use of the scaffolding immediately prior to it being struck, leaving the windows visibly cleaner.
By the end of November 2018, with work completed, all major building contractors vacated the site and the work to renew the pew heating, to upgrade the electrical supply and switching systems was concluded.