At the recent garden party held on 13th June 2015 PAYE contractors organised a ‘Meet the Mason’ stand where visitors to the garden party were informed about the current spire repair project. The ‘Meet the Mason’ part of the stand proved particularly popular with the children. The masons, Ivan Cudby and Anna Rubincam demonstrated to the children how detailed sculpture in stone is carried out and the children had a chance themselves to work with the stone under the expert guidance and supervision of the masons. Andrew Kennedy of PAYE and Fergus Mc Cormick of Thomas Ford and Partners were also on hand to speak to adults and parents about the ongoing repairs to the Spire and show them drawings of the proposed repair works. This ‘Meet the Mason’ event is one of the many educational activities being carried out in conjunction with the spire repair works which have received a generous conservation grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund.
Thomas Ford and Partners led two groups from EASA (The Ecclesiastical Architects and Surveyors Association) on a visit to the Spire at St Mary Church Clapham on 25th April 2015 (see photos attached). The groups inspected the opening up works carried out both internally and externally on the Spire. The leading group from Thomas Ford and Partners including Paul Sharrock, Partner in Charge of project, Fergus Mc Cormick, Project Architect and Karen Butti Associate. Lively and interesting discussions were held on the scaffold regarding the proposed structural repairs to the Spire. Master Mason Bert from the Contractor PAYE was in attendance to give the visiting group the benefit of his long experience of dealing with the use and repair of ragstone on historic buildings. Alex Towle, contracts manager for PAYE was also in attendance.
The EASA visit comprised of two groups of a total of 13 architects and engineers. The groups met first in the morning room in the Monastery for a briefing on the background to the project and proposed repairs by Paul Sharrock of Thomas Ford and Partners Architects followed by a Health and Safety induction by PAYE. The visiting groups then ascended the scaffold externally and later also inspected the spire from the internal scaffold. The visit was very successful and the EASA groups enjoyed the chance to view the Spire up close and learn about the proposed repair works at first hand from the Architects and Contractor.
Update on Spire Repairs Works Contract
St Mary’s Church, Clapham are pleased to announce that the Heritage Lottery Fund have confirmed their permission to start on the proposed Spire Repair Works. The contractor PAYE commenced works on site on 27th April 2015 and will complete the Spire Repair works contract in early November 2015.
Visit to Spire by AA Conservation Students on 13th March 2015
Project Architect Fergus Mc Cormick of Thomas Ford & Partners led a group of four AA conservation students on an inspection of the Spire on 13th March 2015. Andrew Kennedy of contractors PAYE was also in attendance. The students were shown the recent opening up works carried out on the Spire as part of the development stage of the Heritage Lottery Fund Grant for the Spire Repair Project. This visit by conservation students is one of a range of activities being organised as part of the Heritage Lottery Funded grant for the Spire Repair works. The visit was very successful and the students enjoyed the inspection and learned a lot about the proposed repairs.
Visit to Spire by SPAB (Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings) Scholars and Fellows on 17th March 2015.
Project Architect Fergus Mc Cormick of Thomas Ford & Partners led a group of 8 SPAB scholars and fellows on an inspection of the Spire on 17thMarch 2015 (see photos attached). Alex Towle and Master Mason Bert from PAYE were in attendance to impart their expertise on the repair of the ragstone Spire to the SPAB visitors. Mr Ian Harper, English Heritage Buildings at Risk Officer, was also in attendance to brief the visitors on the Heritage Lottery Funded grant process. Justin Mc Ateer of Engineers Hockley & Dawson was also on site to brief the visitors on the structural repair proposals. The visit included an internal and external inspection of the tower from the scaffold. The SPAB visitors enjoyed their visit and learned a lot about the proposed repairs to the Rag stone, York stone and Bath stone found on the Spire and the proposed structural repair works.
Update on Progress with Heritage Lottery Funded Repair Works to Spire
The first stage of the grant aided works on site are now complete. These consisted of the erection of the scaffold, opening up works and the inspections and reports by the Design Team. Thomas Ford & Partners issued the second round submission to the Heritage Lottery Fund in December 2014. The Church is currently awaiting confirmation of the second round repair grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund before appointing the contractor PAYE to carry out the repair contract works to the Spire. It is hoped that the Spire Repair works contract will start on site at the end of April / beginning of May 2015 and will be completed by November 2015.
You can support our Spire Fund if you buy online
Do you shop on line? You can support our Spire Fund if you buy online from Amazon, Argos, John Lewis, Tesco or any of 2700 retailers. Go to this website first:
www.easyfundraising.org.uk/causes/stmarysspire Then click on the retailers you want and they will give us a percentage of your shop value. Many thanks to everyone who is already using this.
