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St Alban’s Restoration Project
St Alban’s is over 130 years old and is bravely battling the elements. Rain is entering the building and some of the brick and stone work is deteriorating. The 5 yearly inspection (Quinquennial) by our church architect in 2023 highlighted certain work that needed to be done sooner rather than later. The PCC decided that it would be prudent to do so now in order to preserve our beautiful church.
The main works that need doing include:
- pointing / re-setting of lead flashings under the upper (clerestory) windows to prevent water ingress including the area above the organ
- investigating the ongoing dampness in the Nave and the flooding in the vestries
- repairing some of the cracked floor slabs around the font
- replacing the decaying exterior brickwork & stonework
- pointing the defective stone work above exterior doors and windows
- repairing the stone threshold by the side door at the top of the steps leading into the church
- replacing some slipped slates
- replacing the dislodged louvres in the bell tower
Also access at the main entrance needs to be improved and the proposed work will hopefully address this along with replacing some of the cracked floor tiles by the font.
Some areas of the exterior brickwork are crumbling due to weathering and are in danger of allowing water to seep through into the church. The south east and north east corners are especially critical as the bricks could become too weak to support the stonework above and collapse.
Following heavy rain, the flooding in the vestry can be quite severe and does impact on our ability to prepare for, and open, our weekly Foodbank. Over the course of 2025, we gave out nearly 2,300 bags of food, an average of 44 per week. This means that over the course of that year we provided around 5,700 meals to people who came to us because they potentially didn’t have any food to put on the table. This year we are giving out up to 60 bags a week showing just how vital this service is. Prediction of more frequent heavy rainfall means that this issue needs to be investigated and resolved as a matter of urgency as we do not want to have to stop a session following heavy rain.
The main ingress of the water appears to begin under the Nave at the back. The dampness can be seen coming up through the stone floor slabs. The effect is causing some of the slabs to crack and this is creating an uneven surface to walk on for all. Our Toddler Tuesday and Thursday Community Hub groups need to take place in a dry, warm church.
We are looking to re-design the main entrance so that accessibility to the main body of the church is available to ALL at ALL times.
The combination of wind and rain can result in the rain water entering the church via the cracked pointing at the bottom of the clerestory windows. One window of concern is the one above our fairly new digital organ – hence the umbrella!
The louvres in the bell tower have become dislodged and so no longer stop rain water from coming in.
- pointing the defective stone work above exterior doors and windows
- repairing the stone threshold by the side door at the top of the steps leading into the church
- replacing some slipped slates
- replacing the dislodged louvres in the bell tower
The louvres in the bell tower have become dislodged and so no longer stop rain water from coming in.
The cost of the project is currently £164,000.00; this includes £30,000 for scaffolding, our architect’s fees and much more for VAT.
The contractors estimate this work will take up to 3 months to complete.
We need to raise the majority of this amount before we can engage the contractors and costs may well have gone up by then.
The sooner we can raise the amount needed, the better!
