Report by Neil Perry, Treasurer, Guestling PCC
Since the last posted report there has been much progress on the project to restore St Laurence Church, and specifically to renovate the tower, replace the north nave roof and carry out various internal repairs, including to Ashburnham Chapel, all of which are necessitated by the ravages of weather damage over the years.
We have launched our fund-raising appeal, taking advantage of the annual Flower Festival in August to advertise that we need to raise about £150,000 to meet the total costs. Some of this will be met from English Heritage grants; at the same time, church-based fund raising activities are in progress, among them the annual choir concert held in July and the Flower Festival itself. Appeals already made to other grant-aiding organisations are also now beginning to yield offers and we have recently had pledges amounting to over £26,000. The total we have raised so far is just over £70,000, equating to approaching half of the target. We are aware of the considerable challenge we face in raising the money but are determined to meet the cost of ensuring this lovely old church survives for another 11 hundred years. If you wish to support the appeal with a donation please contact me or one of the church wardens, Margaret Barnett (tel 01424 754 974 or Ken Tytherleigh (tel 01414 751 516).
The architect’s report on the initial investigation into the extent of the necessary work has been accepted by English Heritage and specifications and drawings for the main work have now been drawn up. English Heritage has acknowledged that the initial inspection has shown that it will also be necessary to recover the north chancel roof and they have indicated they will consider this extra requirement for grant-aiding purposes. Meanwhile, an invitation for contractors to express interest has been launched and this will lead to invitations for tenders.
A maintenance plan and an access audit have been prepared and, following the favourable advice received from the Diocesan Advisory Committee, our petition to the Archdeacon of Lewes and Hastings for a Faculty for the work to proceed has met with a favourable response. Consequently a formal notice drawing public attention to the work was placed in the church for 28 days and this period has now expired without any known comments.
It seems likely that the building work will take place in the spring of 2012 and last for about 16 weeks. This period fits with the advice offered by Natural England concerning the need to be sympathetic to the bat community.