Harwell Church Tower Appeal
From the January 2007 broadsheet
"As readers may already know from previous Broadsheets, various essential repairs need to be made to the church tower. Some of these were confirmed in the last Quinquennial inspection of the church carried out in 2005. Others have been identified in a more detailed recent survey. St Matthew's is a Grade 1 listed building dating from 1190 and survives today only by reason of the care that it has been given by Harwell residents over the centuries. We owe it to our predecessors and to future generations to make sure that this care continues
The main repairs needed are:
- Replacement of the lead roof, which is already leaking in places and nearing the end of is life
- Repairs to the wooden louvres in the tower openings and to the clock face
- Various repairs to the stonework where it has weathered or been damaged
The church architects, West Waddy ADP, have done a detailed survey and have drawn up a specification of works. This has now been used to obtain tenders so that we know fairly closely how much the work will cost - about £60,000. Provided that we can raise the funds we hope that the work can be carried out in the spring or summer 2007. Scaffolding will have to be erected to gain access to the louvres, clock and stonework, and a temporary structure may have to be put up to protect the church whilst the tower roof is being replaced. Before we can proceed we also have to obtain permissions from the Diocese, in the form of a 'Faculty' and from English Heritage, Now that we know the specification and likely cost we can start these approval processes in January.
We started to raise funds last summer, but it is indeed a mountain that stats before us. We are so grateful to all those who have already worked hard for the Christmas Bazaar and sponsored Bellringing, and also to those who have already generously given donations to this project. So far around £6,000 has been raised or given, a magnificent sum!. But we have a long way to go before this mountain is conquered."Details or work to be carried out (pdf documents open in new window)
Stone repairs to tower North.pdf (1.3 Mb)
Stone repairs to tower South.pdf (501 Kb)
Stone repairs to tower West.pdf (1.3 Mb)
Stair tower repairs.pdf (1.2 Mb)
Replacement leadwork to tower roof.pdf (1.7 Mb)
Tower_window_repairs.pdf (1.6 Mb)For more information & how to support the appeal email :
HarwellChurchTowerAppeal@harwellandchiltonchurches.org.uk