Progress to date – 26 May 2022
There is progress both inside and outside – mainly careful removal, but demolition of the floor slab has now started as well. All the waste is sorted and a glance through the Heras fencing reveals separate piles of metal and stone. Inside the church are separate bags of parquet and broken tiles. This week there was a reclamation company collecting the parquet at the west tower entrance. Good tiles are being kept to be re-laid around ledgers and at sanctuary steps.
There is a pile of steel outside and another of the girders from the mezzanine in the former choir vestry inside. All will be reclaimed.
When we had the warm air heater installed, we expected it would only be needed for three years, but we have had five years use out of it. It is now being dismantled. The stone from its enclosure has been piled up for re-use on site. When the new accessible entrance is made in the north wall additional stone will be needed to make good around the aperture, and there is a hole that needs to be filled where the duct from the heating came through.
The architects are hoping that most will be good enough to be reused as it will be a good match. The new stone for the north door surround is more difficult. The architects aim, and faculty requirement, to have a best match with the stone surround of the neighbouring windows, but after weathering. When new it will not look like a good match at all. But in 100 years time, or maybe just 50 it will be very obvious why the choice was made.
We have just paid the first invoice –£48,000 pounds! The next one will be much bigger. We welcome more donations at www.spaceforall.org.uk/supporting-the-project.
Worship continues in The Cornerstone not just on Sundays (8am, 9.30 and 11.15) but also weekdays (Tuesday and Wednesday at 10 am; Thursday at 9am) and the bell ringers have access to the tower. There is still access to almost all the churchyard either through the lychgate in London Road or the double gate in Norreys Avenue. The memorials by The Cornerstone can be accessed from the Cornerstone south hall so long as that is not in use. The only recent memorials that are only accessible by special arrangement are those by the vestry door. Please contact the Parish Office if you would like to visit one on a special day.
Make your donation here or start your own fund-raiser for spaceforall
