At our last Vestry Meeting on Tuesday 21st November, Dave Chouman, our architect, gave us a presentation based upon our latest Quinquennial Reports (2021-2026). Dave first of all reminded us that we had done a tremendous amount of repair work based upon the recommendations of our previous condition reports (2016-2021).
We then turned to the focus of the recommendations in the current reports and although we do not face such large amounts of repair work – as these have largely been dealt with during the final phase of the Major Repair and Refurbishment Project in 2022 – we do still have some significant pieces of work to attend to.
Refurbishment of church doors
This is a piece of work left over from the major repair and refurbishment project and involves maintenance of hinges and iron work on the main doors. This may require work offsite and temporary boarding of the doorway. We also plan to attend to security and safety issues relating to the Choir Vestry and rear doors. We did receive some financial support for this work from the Provincial Building Grant Fund in our funding of the major repair project.
Checking Rood Beam
With the drying out process continuing following the repair work undertaken in 2021 and 2022 our architect would like to check the condition of the timber rood beam. This will require a specialist piece of equipment in order to safely examine it.
Insurance Company requirements
Our insurers now require that we carry out various important surveys or assessments. These include an asbestos survey and management regime, a fire risk assessment and electrical testing. We completed the asbestos survey in October and the report indicates that we have some remedial works to carry out in the Choir Vestry roof area and in other places where electrical infrastructure exists. This was also pointed out when we completed the Electrical Testing. A Fire Risk Assessment has been arranged for early in the new year.
East End Garden Area
We have a number of problems in the east end area of the church grounds. In the later part of the autumn, we noticed that the crypt was very damp, and a drainage survey was conducted. The drainage survey indicates that some repairs are required for our 70-year-old external plumbing! We are also aware that the path between Carden Place and Albert Terrace is in a bad condition with lots of uneven pavers. With Dave Chouman’s help we are working on a plan which would tackle the problems we face in this area. This would encompass tree work, tidying the east end border area, drain repair and relandscaping of the east end area. Fortunately, we have already been successful in receiving some funds for this work from Benefact and the Dr John Anderson Trust. Further fundraising will be required once we have a completed project plan to take to the strategic planning department at ACC.
Other areas for continuing repair and maintenance
The recent condition survey reports also indicate that some corrosion treatment on structural iron and steelwork is required in the storeroom areas. There will also be a requirement for further patch pointing of mortar to the external walls and attendance to slipped slates. We also will carry out winter maintenance of the gutting to clear out unwanted vegetation!
The Rectory
This month we are hoping, if the weather is fair, to fix some damage to the rear chimney area above the old washroom part of the building and to some cracking of the pointing on the rear of the Rectory roof. We have also just in the past few days noticed some leaking from the roof into the attic room area. Hopefully this new leak will be attended to whilst the builders are on site.
