Building repairs at St Mary’s

The Victorians carried out a major restoration of St Mary’s Church in 1863, but unfortunately used an inappropriate mortar to rebuild the west wall. Totally inadequate guttering and hoppers were also installed. To make matters worse, a boiler flue was built into the west wall, helping to weaken it further.

The net result is that rainwater has deeply penetrated both the west wall (which gets the prevailing weather) and the east end of St John’s chapel (where the guttering is defective). A later attempt to cure the damp inside the west end by applying an internal coating of impervious plaster simply trapped the damp inside the walls. Outside, the flint cladding on the west front is crumbling, creating a hazard to passers-by.

The current remedial work is planned in two phases over the next two years, and started in May 2009.