30th June – On site activity day with Granville School
We had a fantastic day today with pupils visiting from Granville School, exploring the history of the village, The Manor House and the Church. They whacked some stones with hammers and chisels and learned about the process of repairing our historic building. The visit to the Manor House was also a highlight with its living history dating back to early 1600’s.
There were lots of questions about the building work and how to become a stonemason.
With huge thanks to the great guys from ASBC and to Catherine and Chris as well as The Heritage Lottery Fund. Also thanks to Declan for bringing them and to the young people for being absolute stars by all accounts.
27th June – Tower emergency repairs
This week our builders have removed the crumbling and wobbly stones from the top 4 courses on the tower. Additional scaffolding and an electric winch was required to safely remove the stones. The good stones are safely stored in the church yard and those that crumbled to rubble have been removed.
19th June – North aisle
There is loads of repointing work happening on the north aisle. Our highly skilled and trusted team of masons are progressing nicely with repairs and pointing.
12th June – Chancel wall over vestry
All the loose render has been removed. The flashing hadn’t been done very well previously so has been redone and all new render has been applied. Hopefully now we will be water proof for the next hundred years.
3rd June – Chancel gable end
The cross has been put back – and vertical! – on the chancel gable end at the East end of the church. That part of the project should be finished by the end of the week. Apart from the tower, things seem to be progressing nicely.
28th May – Our first new stone!
The first new stone in our church for a hundred years. (that’s a guess)
With thanks to National Lottery players.
28th May – Church Tower Update: Urgent Safety Measures and Next Steps
A recent inspection of the tower revealed that the stonework is in worse condition than expected. To make the building immediately safe, we will temporarily remove the top four courses of stone. This work will commence in the next week or so. The rest of the original project is continuing as planned with work starting on the chancel gable end today.
We are getting straight to work on major grant applications to cover these specialist costs of c. £240,000. However, tower work may pause during this process, potentially delaying our full return to the building until early 2027. That should become clear once the damaged stones are removed. We are so sorry for the ongoing disruption to services and special events, and we deeply appreciate your patience.
Thank you for your continued prayers and support!
12th May – Dear friends,
We want to update you on the restoration work at the church.
A recent detailed inspection of the Tower by ASBC and Historic England has shown that the stonework needs significantly more repair than first expected. Some areas have deteriorated badly, and extra conservation work is now essential to keep the Tower safe and stable.
This includes replacing damaged stones and carefully dismantling and rebuilding the parapet wall. Because this is specialist heritage work, the additional cost is estimated at £200,000–£250,000 beyond our current budget.
Work on site may need to pause while we seek the necessary approvals and secure extra funding. This also means it may be longer before we can return to the church building, with completion possibly moving into early 2027.
We know this is disappointing news, especially for those affected by the ongoing disruption to services and special occasions. We are very sorry for the inconvenience this continues to cause.
Despite the challenges, this work is vital to protect our much‑loved historic church for the future. We will share further updates as soon as we have more information on funding and revised timelines.
Thank you for your patience, understanding, and prayers. If you feel able to help — through fundraising, practical support, sponsorship, or professional advice — we would be grateful to hear from you via our usual email address.
1st May – The South wall of the nave and east gable is up to about 60% done. Great work chaps.
27th April – Work started on the East gable end yesterday. Things are progressing smoothly.
23rd April – Steady progress this week on repointing the south wall of the church. It is a time consuming process of grinding out and then pushing in the special lime mortar mix, inch by inch.
The end result looks great. ASBC of Melbourne are doing a great job so far.
We are grateful for the support of National Lottery players and The National Lottery Heritage Fund.
