The Parochial Church Council has raised money towards the cost of major repairs which have arisen in the course of works to stabilise and strengthen the roof of St. Lawrence's Church, to prevent its possible collapse and to re-roof the Nave.
In the Summer of 2000 the Churchwardens became anxious about the condition of the North end of the church. A Structural Engineer was commissioned to investigate. He found that the roof timbers of the Nave had never been properly strengthened over about three quarters of their length, and had caused the roof to sag, pushing the roof trusses off the wall plate, in places by as much as 200mm. It was impossible to say when this movement occurred, whether it was stable or moving, and when the roof would collapse. The roof was held in place by some of the wooden pegs holding the trusses onto the wall plate.
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We have raised all the funds to carry out the original project, to strengthen and stabilise, which is now nearing completion, and the photographs show the straps used to strengthen the structure and the extent to which the roof has been stripped to enable to steelwork to be inserted to complete the job. We have called this work Phase 1.
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It has become clear during Phase 1 that the battens and nails on the Nave roof, which date back to 1870, are corroding and are in a poor state. Our Architect and Consulting Engineer believe the roof will require replacement within 5 years. Any interim repairs will require scaffolding, rather than the use of roofing ladders, at considerable expense.
By carrying out the work now we can use the existing scaffolding, which will result in a saving of around £3,000. We will make use of the existing tiles, strengthening the structure with matching tiles, nailed to the roof on every fifth course. We will also take the opportunity to treat the timbers for rot and beetle. The cost of this phase, Phase 2, will be around £26,000.
