THE Town Church was a danger to parishioners and had to be renovated, according to its warden.
Elis Bebb (pictured) said it was only during scheduled work that other problems with the building came to light.
‘At the worst point, there was a major additional problem appearing every week,’ he said.
At one stage the project almost ground to a halt but additional funding was secured by the church and then the parish.
It is now set to reopen to the public later this month.
‘The plaster was crumbling off the walls to the point where one of the memorials nearly fell off during work,’ said Mr Bebb.
The three-foot square marble wall-mounted memorial in the Lady Chapel was made secure but three nearby, including one measuring eight feet by four, were also in a precarious state.
‘They were literally about to fall off when someone noticed. It is quite possible that without this work, one would have just dropped off,’ said Mr Bebb.
Carpet in the Lady Chapel was also taken up, revealing it had been glued directly to granite memorial ledgers dating from the early 1700s.
‘We knew there was something there, but this was like finding hidden treasure,’ he said.
The last service in the church was on Christmas Day 2008 and it had been hoped that they would resume by 9 May.
The church, which dates back to 1032, has been closed for this long only once before – in the late 1800s for renovation.
‘It’s not as if the building would have collapsed tomorrow, but the extent of the damage being done meant it would have been a bigger job in the future,’ said Mr Bebb.
The project is running six months late and £120,000 over budget – a sum which parishioners agreed to pay at last week’s parish meeting.
The amount is equivalent to £10 per household for two years.
Mr Bebb said the electrical supply had to be replaced.
‘It was in danger of sending the church up in flames,’ he said.
The hard of hearing loop used to be attached to the outside of the building.
‘Because of all the copper piping, the only place it would work was if you were sat right against the wall – but from there you could not see the speaker.
‘It was just rude to invite people into the church and then not allow them to hear what was going on,’ said Mr Bebb.
The antiquated single-pipe heating system has also been replaced.
‘There always used to be this toilet flushing sound, which we thought was the organ dehumidifier, but it was the heating system topping up with water because there were so many leaks.’
All the wiring and pipework is hidden behind new skirting boards.
The last major job is sanding and varnishing of the wooden floor.
nÊThe first service in the refurbished church will be on Sunday 29 November.
There will be a series of lunchtime concerts in the preceding week.
Article posted on 9th November, 2009 - 2.29pm
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