An Incredibly Easy Method That Works For All
10 Apr 2021
Caring for Historic Church Spires and Towers
A parish church tower is usually the tallest thing for miles, and everything the British weather can throw at it arrives from every quarter at once. Driving rain, freeze-thaw, salt-laden winds off the coast, the baking and shrinking of a hot summer — the upper stages of a tower or spire take all of it without shelter. Stone, lead, iron and oak each respond differently, and the joints between them are where trouble begins.
These structures were built by people who understood weather far better than we sometimes assume. Our job is not to reinvent their work but to repair it with the same logic: let water run off, let materials move, and keep the soft, sacrificial elements doing their sacrificial job. The skills required are genuinely specialist, and getting them right the first time is almost always cheaper than correcting them later.
Begin at the bottom and work upwards with your eyes. Splitting and open joints at the base, eroded buttresses, and crumbling plinth stones are usually symptoms of water getting in much higher up. Before any stone is replaced, establish whether decay is caused by a hard cement mortar applied in a past repair. Cement pointing is stronger than the stone it surrounds, so moisture is trapped and forced through the masonry instead of evaporating from the joints.
Most water damage to towers starts with a parapet gutter or a valley that no longer runs true. Cast lead should be laid in short lengths with properly dressed wood-cored rolls, falls that actually drain, and drips that throw water clear of the wall below. Look for splits at the base of rolls, fatigue cracking, and staining that points to corrosive run-off from oak or cement. Where lead is beyond repair, replace it with sand-cast lead of an appropriate code, and resist bitumen or mastic patches, which trap water and hide the true condition of the sheet.
Then look at the rainwater goods. A blocked hopper head sends water straight down the inside of the wall, and a cracked downpipe discharges it into the foundations. Gullies, hoppers and outlets should be cleared at least twice a year — in late spring and again after leaf fall. This is the least glamorous maintenance on the building and the one that prevents the most expensive repairs.
The vane is the last thing anyone inspects and the first thing to be forgotten. Yet its spindle sits in a socket at the very apex of the spire, and water runs down that socket into the structure. A seized vane, a worn bearing or a slipped lead apron are small faults with disproportionately large consequences.
Reaching the work is frequently the largest single cost, which is why a good survey before scaffolding goes up saves real money. Drone photography, rope-access inspection and a careful examination from the belfry windows can all narrow down exactly what needs attention and where. From there, choose the lightest access that will do the job: a designed independent scaffold for substantial masonry, mast climbing platforms for tall, narrow faces, roof ladders for short excursions.
Scaffold ties must not be drilled into fragile masonry or historic detail, and every fixing into the fabric should be recorded, minimised and made good with the right material. The scaffold also needs a design that allows stone to be delivered to the lift it is needed on, and lead to be dressed without being dragged across new work.
Church of England places of worship sit under faculty jurisdiction, so speak to the Diocesan Advisory Committee early, before designs are fixed. Other denominations and listed chapels will usually need listed building consent or will fall under the ecclesiastical exemption, and the local conservation officer will want to see a clear statement of significance and method.
Keep a fabric log: quarry names and bed, mortar mixes, lead codes, the dates of each repair and the photographs that show conditions before and after. The quinquennial inspection is the backbone of this, but a five-year cycle is a long time on an exposed tower. A modest annual budget for the small jobs — the slipped slate, the cracked hopper, the nest in the gutter — will protect the church far more effectively than any single grand campaign of repair. Cathedrals and parish churches alike endure because generations before us kept up with the little things. That habit, more than any technique, is what keeps a spire sound.
Ivoryspire Written for people who value the details, and want honest guidance they can trust.
April 25, 2019 at 10:46 am
Take in the iconic skyline and visit the neighbourhood hangouts that you've only ever seen on TV. Take in the iconic skyline and visit the neighbourhood.
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Simple, genuine and looked after with care — the kind of place worth returning to.
Soldman Kell
April 25, 2019 at 10:46 am
Take in the iconic skyline and visit the neighbourhood hangouts that you've only ever seen on TV. Take in the iconic skyline and visit the neighbourhood.