Maintaining St. Andrew's
St. Andrew's Church dates back to at least the 14th century. Repairs have been carried out throughout the life of the church, most famously by George Herbert, and we continue to strive to preserve his heritage. There are a number of repairs recently undertaken which have depleted our funds, and we are raising additional funds before we start other works.
Recent Repairs
The recent repairs have been to the three most urgent areas of concern:
- The pointing of the flints on the western wall of the church.
- Cutting out and refacing the greensand stones and quoins which had deteriorated most, and
- Replacing inappropriate hard render in the interior former North door area of the church where there was a damp problem.
New flint pointing at west end
All this work has now been completed and the new pointing can be seen in the picture. This is a west facing wall and will be most weathered by the prevailing wind but the flints are no longer in danger of falling out. In due course, we will have to arrange for the whole wall to be repointed again but the immediate danger has been resolved.
The refacing of the stone has also been completed. While it looks new at present, it will soon weather in and blend in with the remainder of the church.
Before repair
After repair
We have also had the hard render hacked off in the former north doorway and it has been re-rendered in lime mortar with a traditional lime wash painted over it. The electric socket has been replaced by a junction box.
Future Repairs Required
With a building that is 7-800 years old like St Andrew’s Church, there is always additional work to be done. We need to rebuild our funds a little first, but the future areas we need to consider are:
- The pointing of the verge tiling and the west window. This will require scaffolding, as will
- Repainting of the belfry and stripping of paint off the oak woodwork – paint will never adhere satisfactorily to this.
- The other major works required is the resetting of the bricks in the soakaway drainage which surrounds the church as many of the bricks are loose.
You Can Help
Repairs to centuries-old buildings such as this are specialised and invariably costly. The Friends of St. Andrew's would be delighted to receive donations towards the upkeep of this lovely little historic church.
You can make a donation through PayPal by clicking on this button: