Report by Neil Perry, Treasurer of the PCC
As the current phase of the restoration of Guestling Church draws to an end, it seems the right time to recall when it all started, what has been achieved and how everyone who uses the church will now benefit.
The story began on 13th October 2008 when English Heritage classified St Laurence as a Grade 1 Listed building, identified it as a structure with significant historic features worth preserving and encouraged the Parochial Church Council to submit an application for a grant for essential repairs. The English Heritage architect detected some serious structural defects such as flawed stonework and pointing on the tower, as well as the poor state of a north-facing roof. These problems had been getting worse for a number of years and had resulted in dampness penetrating many parts of the building. Since there was no time to lose in getting major repairs underway, the PCC submitted an application in June 2009 to English Heritage for a Listed Places of Worship Grant.
In December 2009, English Heritage offered us a grant to be paid in two parts – project definition and building phases – towards the considerable cost of the planned restoration work. Fundraising began in earnest almost immediately because the English Heritage grants would contribute only about one third of the estimated overall costs and this meant we had to find in the region of £100,000 before building could begin. Applications to various trusts, foundations, organisations and authorities were made and at the same time we stepped up our church-based fundraising activities.
In the spring of 2010 the project definition phase identified the scope of the work required but it also revealed some unwelcome news: an additional north-facing roof would need to be completely refurbished at an additional cost of about £10,000. We renewed our fundraising efforts and continued activities throughout the rest of 2010 and the early part of 2011. At the same time, the necessary permission from the Chichester Diocese for the work to proceed was sought and granted. Known as a Faculty, this permission has a limited timescale and so it meant we had to work quickly with our architect in inviting tenders from appropriate contractors. By the Spring of 2011 we had secured sufficient in our Restoration Fund, in the form of actual cash and pledges, to be able to proceed. We acknowledged with gratitude the generosity of the organisations which had responded and they were later named on the notice board near the church, advertising the work.
A contract with Archer Stone Restoration, as the principal contractor, was signed in late Spring this year and in July the building work began. We soon established a very good working relationship with the workmen on site and this has enabled church life to continue without interruption. They even facilitated the pictures for a wedding in August by striking some of the scaffolding in the affected area; they have also cooperated with us in allowing the church to be used for events during the working week. It was also clear from observing them that these were skilled tradesmen who took a pride in their work, particularly the stonemasons whose shaping of stone took much painstaking effort. The whole of the tower, some parts of Ashburnham Chapel and the west end of the nave were repointed using a lime-based mortar. Some of the stonework was found to have failed and it had to be replaced. The two roofs were stripped rapidly while the good weather held and the old insulation, which consisted of horsehair, was replaced by a more modern membrane. New batons were fixed using stainless steel nails. Meanwhile careful preservation of the removed tiles minimised the need to introduce new tiles when re-tiling occurred in late August; and where new tiles were bought, they were sponsored by visitors to the Flower Festival and by members of the congregation.
Work continued through the summer and it focussed on actions to preserve the long term life of the building: all of the guttering and downpipes were replaced in cast iron and new guttering was introduced on the tower roof. The glass in the belfry windows was replaced by oak louvres and additional ventilation measures were introduced in the belfry, in the windows of the silence chamber and in the turret. This increased source of ventilation will, in time, help to dry out the whole of the west end of the church which has suffered much due to dampness.
Now as this phase of the restoration of the church draws to an end, it is appropriate to reflect on what has been achieved: being a small church with a relatively small regular congregation we had to rely on the generosity of those trusts, foundations and organisations interested in preserving historic buildings to help fund the project and they did not let us down; the project has remained within budget and planned timescales; the preservation actions will hopefully ensure that the long term life of the building is secured for everyone to appreciate, not only regular worshippers but also the schools and other organisations and individuals who visit; the appearance of the stonework etc is much improved as the new photographs of the building will testify; and we have made a contribution towards achieving Guestling & Three Oaks Action Plan: to ensure that the historic buildings such as St. Laurence Church are protected.
There is always something to be tackled in maintaining historic buildings and after a pause for breath we will need to plan our next preservation projects: to replace the elderly lighting system and repair the windows among other things.