It seems that in 1880 the church was built to last at least 100 years.  In the last twenty years  or so it has been crying out for repairs, not least to keep it weather tight.  The cast iron gutters have been dripping for some time.

In 2007, the Area Dean and vicar of St Mary & St Nicolas church applied for a grant from English Heritage.  With the church now listed as Grade I due to its unique setting with the vicarage and acre of grounds - in addition to its eminent architect - a generous grant of £123,000 was offered.  The PCC at the time were divided over applying for such funds, but no other plans were in place. Rather than loose such a magnificent place of worship serving this location, the pursuit of further grants followed in 2010.

On 29 September 2010, works commenced to repair the roof and replace the unique gutters and downpipes.  Pictured, left: Peter Pearce of Pearce roofing with Peter McFarlane, architect and, right: Tim & Fran Mackereth of Anwick Forge, responsible for the new gutters at the site meeting at the commencement of the works.

By early October, Longbottoms Foundry at Holmfirth had commenced work on the pattern dressing.  The foundry expect to be able to recycle much of the old cast iron gutters into the new casts for St Paul's - recycling the old into the new.

The first of the newly gutters were cast in time for Advent 2010; the picture (left) shows the pattern.

By the end of February 2011, the new high level gutters and downpipes on the nave were revealed by the removal of the scaffolding.

See also our Stewardship, Grants and Trusts page along with our archives on the church building and church history.

This new draft page was first published on 1 October.