Building Repairs

Our building’s age and the weather have landed us with a hefty repair bill at His Place. The sea winds have taken a heavy toll on the church’s masonry, with severe erosion that has destroyed much of the original carved stone decoration and left some of the leaded windows flapping in the wind. Also, quite a lot of older, makeshift repairs have reached the end of their life, including the concrete tile roof that was installed in the 1980s. We need to return the roof slopes to their original slate, ideally with the addition of some discreet solar panels and proper insulation underneath. We also need to renew and enlarge all of the rainwater goods. As many other people who care for historic buildings are finding, the impact of climate change means that the original gutters and downpipes can no longer cope with the volume of rain that falls these days.  

Once we have completed the exterior works, we will be looking to refurbish the interior. The inadequate rainwater goods have caused a lot of water damage to the original worship space, including with the loss of some of the beautiful floral plaster decoration; we hope to reinstate this using moulds from George Jackson and Sons, the company that did the original work in 1885 and which still operates today. The Forster & Andrews pipe organ also requires a lot of work to bring it back to its best state and we need to further improve access for wheelchair and mobility scooter users, ideally with a permanent ramp into the main space direct from Cambridge Road. We are also looking to upgrade our foyer at the rear of the auditorium, removing the ugly false ceiling and unsympathetic floor coverings.