St Cuthbert's Church, Birkby

Welcome to our new Restoration Diary. Keep checking back for updates on the progress of our Restoration, or scroll down to the bottom of the main page to see the story from the beginning.

Week 26 - 20th January 2012
Due to the poor weather the re-slating of the south roof was notcompleted before Christmas. As you can see from the photo it is now 95% complete. All the slates on the Lady Chapel roof have now been removed and restoration of the roof timberwork is underway. Inside the building the base coat re-plastering has been completed and is drying out before the application of the finish coat. The Vestry has had the finish coat of plaster applied. Painting of all the new roof timbers, rafters and metal plates has begun. Soon work will start on the restoration of the roof above the north staircase and the Vestry. We hope to be able to move back into the church in March. We’ve had some unexpected and very generous donations this week for which, as always, we are extremely grateful. Thank you all for your continued support.

Carpenter at Work

Roof Nearly Complete

Week 19 - 1st December 2011
The North side of Nave roof re-slating is now completed and the remaining sections of re-pointing will begin soon. The South side Nave roof has now had 29 rafters replaced – we aim to have the Nave fully re-roofed before Christmas.

Week 18 - 25th November 2011
Huddersfield MP, Barry Sheerman, visited St Cuthberts to reviewprogress on the restoration. He is pictured here with our Vicar andwith Church Warden Keith Hadcroft.

Week 12 - 10th October 2011
Due to adverse weather conditions during the last week, work on the north side roof was severely hampered. However, in respect to the structural timber work on this side of the roof, all the rafters (59) requiring attention, have been replaced along with approximately 26 metres of wall plate. The man hatch has been completed and the valley gutter completely re-built. The gutter has been now lined with stainless steel thus completing all the structural work. On Monday, the slaters are scheduled to start measuring out the position of the final laths so that re-fitting of the slates can commence. The man safe system anchor points have also to be fitted prior to re-slating.

Inside the building, a second main truss has been flitched leaving one more still to be done and one existing set of flitch plates to be replaced. Seven more smaller scissor trusses also require similar attention. Replacement of the brickwork from wall top up and around the feet of the new rafters is in progress.

Outside pointing of the stonework was stopped last week also due to the bad weather.

Week 11 - 3rd October 2011
All work over the last 7-10 days has continued to be focussed on the replacement of rotted wall plate and rafters. To date, 55 rafters and associated wall plate have been replaced with new. A hatch for easy roof access from inside the Church is being constructed. The first of the new spitters above the drainpipe hoppers has also been fitted. The structural new timberwork is almost completed on the north wall (Bleasdale Road) valley gutter and approximately 75% of the new Stainless steel gutter lining has been fitted. It is hoped, weather permitting, that re-slating will commence on this side of the roof within the next 2 weeks.

Stainless Steel waiting to be cut:

A main truss, the one in worst condition, has been lifted 50mm and has been fitted with flitch plates to secure its position. Other main trusses are being examined at the present time.

On the South side wall, from the parapet down to the valley gutter, between the Chancel and Lady Chapel (a vertical distance of approximately 10 feet), raking out and re-pointing is completed. Re-pointing is continuing around the corner onto the East Wall. The coping stones on the parapet top, still require pointing.

Bishop Tony, our Restoration Appeal Patron, visited in early October to review progress. He is pictured here with Stuart Beaumont (Architect) Richard (from Historic Building Restoration) and our Vicar and Church Warden:

Week 10 - 26th September 2011

Practically all the roof area on the North side (Bleasdale Road) has now been covered with the correct grade of special under drawing felt with 80% of laths nailed in position, ready for re-slating. A third section of wall plate, along with 14 rafters is now being replaced. To date, the number of rafters replaced is approximately 45%. It is very probable that a smaller fourth area will need similar restoration. 20 metres of walling top brickwork has been removed to expose the rafter feet and wall plate with 15 metres of wall plate being replaced. A main truss, the one in worst condition, has been lifted 50mm and has been fitted with flitch plates to secure its position. Structural timber work is continuing on the Bleasdale side valley gutter and is approximately 50% completed awaiting boarding prior to lining with stainless steel, but this can only proceed at the rate of the rafter/wall plate replacement. Once all the structural timber restoration is completed in the gutter, it will be lined with stainless steel (in place of lead). At this point, a start to final re-slating of the Bleasdale side of the roof can be made.

On the South side wall, from the parapet down to the valley gutter, between the Chancel and Lady Chapel (a vertical distance of approximately 10 feet), raking out and re-pointing is practically completed. The coping stones on the parapet top, still require pointing.

Work is progressing well, but we are approximately 3 weeks behind schedule,1 week due to wet and very windy weather and almost 2 weeks due to the increased quantity of rafter feet and wall plate that have required replacement.

Week 9 - 19th September 2011

Practically all the roof area on the North side (Bleasdale Road) has now been covered with the correct grade of special under drawing felt with 80% of laths nailed in position, ready for re-slating. A second section of wall plate, along with 9 rafters is now being replaced. To date, the number of rafters and associated wall plate timbers replaced is approximately 30%. It is very probable that a third area will need similar restoration. The brickwork on the first restored section has now been replaced. Structural timber work has commenced on the Bleasdale side valley gutter but this can only proceed at the rate of the rafter/wall plate replacement. Once all the structural timber restoration is completed in the gutter, it will be lined with stainless steel (in place of lead). At this point, a start to final re-slating of the Bleasdale side of the roof can be made.

On the South side wall, from the parapet down to the valley gutter, between the Chancel and Lady Chapel (a vertical distance of approximately 10 feet), raking out and re-pointing is 80% completed. The coping stones on the parapet top, still require pointing.

Work is progressing well and the quality of restoration can only be described as excellent.

Week 8 - 12th September 2011

A large area of the roof on the North side (Bleasdale Road) has now been covered with the correct grade of special under drawing felt and the laths distances have been marked out and the laths nailed into position, ready for re-slating. At the East wall end of the church, a new section of wall plate has been fitted along with 12 new rafters from wall plate to first purlin. Some brickwork needs replacement (removed to facilitate fitting of new wall plate) and new under drawing boards will be required. A further section of wall plate and probably the associated rafters going towards the front door will also require similar replacement (but this is still to be confirmed). Once this structural work is completed and the whole length of wall plate restored, the roof will be in a position to be re-slated. Once this position is reached, work can start on the replacement of the gutter and as the gutter is replaced slating will follow along behind.

On the south wall from the parapet to the roof line of the Lady Chapel a distance of approximately 10 feet is in the process of being raked out and re-pointed.

Week 7 - 5th September 2011

All the roof on the north side (Bleasdale Road) has now been stripped of slates to provide visual inspection and access to the roof timbers. Re-felting has commenced and 30% of the roof is covered, from the West wall (front door) towards the Altar, with the correct grade of special, micro-porous under-drawing felt and secured by temporary battens. This area can now be measured out, when appropriate, ready for the replacement of the slate laths to allow re-slating to commence in this area. The other 70% has been fully sheeted. Restoration of the gutter, which is the main problem giving water ingress, can now start. This has to be done before re-slating can commence as slating starts at the gutter and continues upwards to the ridge. It is expected that over the next week or so (weather permitting) the north wall gutter should be nearing completion. 90% of the raking out and re-pointing on the garden door wall and return side walls has now been done. Internally, some more areas of perished plaster have been removed. It has to be said that weather conditions during last week have hindered the work.

Week 6 - 29th August 2011

Work is now proceeding with the roof restoration. Almost two thirds of the roof over the north side (Bleasdale Road) has been stripped back from parapet to ridge, front door towards the Altar, waiting for the joiners to start replacing the rotted timbers, (the rafters from the valley gutter to the first purlin). New roofing felt, slate battens and copper nails will be used when refitting the slates. Work will shortly commence to reconstitute the gutter on this side of the roof. Full sheeting up of this area has taken place, making it waterproof. The three windows in the staircase going down to the Crypt and one from the Vestry have now been sent for refurbishment. It is planned to refit these at the next half term break. 60% of the raking out, of the pointing on the garden door wall and return side walls has now been done and repointing has commenced. Historic Buildings Restoration now report that they are almost back on schedule after a slightly slow start.

Here is the Vicar and one of our Wardens overseeing work on the roof!

Week 5 - 22nd August 2011

Work is now proceeding with the roof restoration. Half of the roof over the north (Bleasdale Road) side has been stripped back from parapet to ridge, front door towards the Altar, waiting for the joiners to start replacing the rotted timbers. Full sheeting up of this area has been done. The basement external doors are now completed making them both waterproof and secure. Three windows in the staircase going down to the Crypt and one from the Vestry have been removed ready for sending away for refurbishment. Raking out the pointing on the garden door wall has commenced to facilitate re-pointing. The hole in the internal wall between the boiler house and the Crypt area has been bricked up making the boiler house a fire resistant room as well as improving security. The first site meeting between us, the architect and the builders is set to take place on 1 September.

This is how rotten our roof was:

Stripping the roof back:

Week 4 - 15th August 2011

The scaffolding is now complete and fitted with a security alarm. Some extra preparatory work has been carried out. As this present period is in the main holiday period this has slowed the project slightly. It is expected that the momentum will return to normal over the next week or so. The very good news is that the contract with English Heritage is now signed as is the contract with Historic Building Restoration, so the work can now proceed as planned. Hopefully, next week should show more progress, as we get back to normal working. Once again, thank you for all your support and for being so adaptable while we have been getting used to being ‘St. Cuthberts in the Crypt’. It has to be said that last Sunday morning, the singing was absolutely wonderful to listen to and to be part of, even though we managed to set off the heat/smoke detector from our enthusiastic bodies in a small space.

Week 3 - 8th August 2011

The Scaffolding is now almost all in place and a lot of preparatory work has been done. The specialist firm who undertook the original Timber Survey has been back for a further inspection. The roof on the north side (Bleasedale Rd) has got significantly worse over the last two years and most of timber work which forms the gutter supports, along with the truss ends is completely rotten. The specialist has told us that the intervening two years since the first inspection have 'allowed the ripe fungi to do its worst' So we now know for sure that we have been right to under- take this massive task - if we had left the restoration for much longer it would have been too late to save the building. Thank you for all your support and for being so adaptable while we have been getting used to being 'St Cuthberts in the Crypt'.

Week 2 - 1st August 2011

Preparations are nearly complete and the work is ready to start. Here are some photographs to show the church all ready to go!

The scaffolding is up:

The main Church is empty:

The Lady Chapel:

Week 1 - 25th July 2011

Restoration is underway! This week the scaffolding has started to go up, and our main contractors are on site to start preparing the church for the work. From now on services will be held in our crypt, accessable from the Bleasdale Road side of the church.