Restoration of St.Peter's
We have been quinquennial inspectors and architects to St Peter’s in Petersham since 2008.
As conservation architects we oversaw the restoration of the bell tower and have advised on the installation of a new organ. We have also been involved in an array of smaller conservation projects to aid the church in meeting modern standards of accessibility and fire safety.
The restoration of the chancel has been particularly notable. The works have involved the redecoration and the cleaning of all the monuments but most importantly the restoration of the Cole Memorial.
The Cole Memorial
The monument is the most valuable element of the church and is placed in the chancel close to the altar. The monument was completely dismantled and restored in situ. The original installation flaws such as the poor bonding with the outer wall and rising damp from the foundations were addressed. In the reconstruction, all the elements were levelled and tied to either the back wall or adjacent material.
The cementitious render on the interior of the chancel has been removed, the roman cement moulding at low level to the east wall had inappropriate paint removed and the Jenner Memorial was also restored. The removal of the cementitious render has revealed the original stone rubble construction, probably the earliest element of the building. Given the significance of this detail it was agreed to leave it exposed. The rest of the walls have been rendered with lime and painted with Keim mineral paint.
The works were carried out by PAYE Conservation. The professionalism and high level of skilled craftsmanship they offered made this project a success.
In 2019 we undertook the re-covering of the entire tiled roof of the church and the repointing of the tower. This involved extensive repair to the timber structure, some of which dated back to the fifteenth century, and replacement of the inappropriate and inadequate plastic guttering with conservation aluminium cast gutters. The work included providing proper access and lighting to the roof void and upgrading the insulation and installing motorised hoists to the chandeliers in the nave below for the ease and safety of maintaining them.
As well as the program of work having to allow ongoing services, weddings, funerals etc. we also had to work around the periodic presence of bats in the roof space. We provided them with a special detail in the tiling which gives them a means of entry and exit.
All of the work described above depended on close liaison with specialists and experts and, very importantly, knowing when to bring them in. A quinquennial architect is a bit like a general practitioner in medicine. They aim to have an overall grasp of the patient’s health but are happy to refer to specialists when appropriate.
grid-cols-1
lg:grid-cols-2
