Award winning journalist Simon Jenkins, in his book ‘England’s Thousand Best Churches’ describes St Nicholas of Myra church as a ‘foursquare no-nonsense church’, possibly a rather modest description for this Grade 1 listed church with its fine Norman arch and its original corbel table! Originally built around AD1100 the church was extensively rebuilt in the thirteenth century but by the mid-nineteenth century had become so derelict that it had to be closed and services were temporarily held in the school. At the time the church was restored at a cost of approximately £1,500. We have recently undertaken a further restoration of the roof which cost a little over £630,000.
The roof of St Nicholas of Myra was last replaced around 1869-1872. 150 years later, whilst carrying out works on the roof in September 2021, closer investigation revealed that many of the stone slates were cracked or damaged, that the Victorian nails holding the heavy Purbeck stone slates were corroded and the wooden battens were rotten.
The church had been closed due to Covid for much of the preceding 18 months but, regrettably once again there was no option but to close the church until such time that it could be made safe for our congregation and visitors. Again services were held, with appropriate Covid precautions, in the old school, now the Village Hall. By creating a no entry zone round the church and installing netting above the nave, we were able to satisfy the safety requirements of Salisbury Diocese and our insurers and the church was able to re-open in time for Christmas 2021.
There followed a period of intense activity whilst we appointed an architect, Crickmay Stark Architects Limited of Dorchester, and sought relevant permissions to carry out the necessary work from the Diocese and other organisations concerned with the preservation of historic buildings.
Following a review of other works which might be done at the same time as the roof repair, it was agreed that the project should include the removal of the Victorian chimney, requiring Planning Permission from Dorset Council, redundant radiators and associated pipework, as these were no longer used following the installation of electric underpew heating several years ago.
We also started the enormous task of fundraising, initially with a target of £450,000, though subsequently we required over £600,000 to complete the project.
……..and then there was the wildlife to be considered. Prior to works being carried out on the roof in September 2021, the church was regularly visited by squirrels which entered via a broken slate, unfortunately their intrusion led to part of the nave ceiling being damaged. Both the slate and the ceiling were temporarily repaired, however, there was also evidence that bats had used the tower. Bat surveys were carried out during the summer of 2022 which indicated that bats were not present in the roof, however, in the interest of ecology, a bat box was installed in the churchyard.
Good news came in February 2023 when this target really started to look achievable following the news that we had been awarded a grant of £249,008 from the Heritage Lottery Fund. Patron of the Roof Appeal, Baron Phillips of Worth Matravers, greeted the news with the following comment:
‘What a wonderful gift from the Heritage Lottery. Alleluia! Our target has now come down from the stratosphere to one that we must surely achieve. I hope that readers will redouble their support so that we may soon have the joy of looking up and seeing building work in progress’.
Later in the year there was further good news, with grants from Dorset Historic Churches Trust, the Erskine Muton Charitable Trust and the National Churches Trust. Other fundraising activities have included a Literary Lunch sponsored by The Oldie Magazine, the raffle of a Nicholas Hely Hutchinson painting of the church, kindly donated by the artist, which made nearly £20,000, Open Gardens, concerts, film evening and fetes, our thanks to all those who have helped us and the numerous private individuals who have kindly supported our cause. By mid-2023 these magnificent grants, combined with our other fundraising activities and donations, meant that we were close to achieving our target and able to commence work.
Meanwhilst, following open tendering, Tudor Rose Masonry and Conservation Limited of Weymouth were appointed as the main contractors, they commenced work on Monday 18th September 2023. Their first task was to protect all the Church memorials and furniture. Then followed the arrival of the scaffolders who took five weeks to erect full scaffolding inside and outside the church so that work could continue whatever the weather.
By the end of October the church was fully protected, the old radiators and associated pipework had been removed and the chimney reduced to roof level. The first tile was removed on the 1st November and by Christmas 2023 the roof had been fully stripped and the majority of the ceiling removed, however, this revealed considerable rot on the upper side of the rafters none of which were scheduled to be replaced.
Following a Structural Engineer’s inspection in early 2024, it was decided that all of the original rafters would have to be replaced. Inevitably this would entail a delay as well as additional costs and the need to apply to the Diocese for an amendment to our Faculty. With the superb support of our architects and following consultation with the Diocesan office and Historic England we were able to put forward a revised specification and in just over a month we received the amendment required to continue the project.
There followed a period of approximately six weeks during which new rafters were sourced and the old rafters removed, then in late March 2024 our contractors, Tudor Rose, took delivery of the new rafters. Manoeuvring and fitting the 100 six metre long timbers each weighing nearly 100Kg without the aid of mechanical equipment proved to be time consuming, tricky and exhausting but was completed by August.
Next followed the fitting of the laths and bat-proof roofing membrane and by September work was underway on relaying the tiles on the chancel roof. In total 1,700 tiles, weighing approximately 40 tons, had to be relayed using, whenever possible, the original tiles. This process took much longer than originally planned as each tile required dressing before fitting, this has required considerable skill as many of the tiles are believed to be original (i.e. approximately 900 years old). The chancel roof was completed in November, work then commenced on the nave roof which was not completed till the second week of April 2025.
Meanwhilst, in early January 2025 work commenced on plastering the chancel ceiling and continued through to May with the nave ceiling. This was followed by painting throughout the church during April/May and finally the church was completed and handed back to the parish on the 4th June, just in time for the rededication service on Sunday 8th June led by the Bishop of Sherborne.
Our thanks go out to the magnificent works carried out by Tudor Rose Masonry and Conservation Limited, Crickmay Stark Architects Limited for all the advice they gave to us and to all those organisations and individuals who have supported us throughout. We hope that the work which has been done will last another 150 years.
In 2021 we were awarded an Eco Silver Award for work in the churchyard. Whilst work was undertaken on the church roof we continued our efforts to improve conservation management in order to enhance bio-diversity within the church grounds, which we hope will lead to the Gold Award. As part of our commitment to the Heritage Lottery Fund plans are also in hand to encourage greater community use of both the grounds and the church.
Simon Jenkins text used under Licence no R-280412 Penguin Books Limited