Church External.
The roof of the tower needs checking annually for drainage gullies, re-positioning of roof ties as required, and lead levels where these have been stood on.
Apply wood preserver to timber sections as and when required.
Check annually that the narrow, ancient crack in the bell tower has not widened; I had a particular inspection done (by a prof in Eng. Dept.) of the belltower to confirm that it can in fact be used for bellringing, (it can) and, with Bruce (current Church Warden) had a tell- tail applied.
The external walls of the tower and of the church generally should be checked at least annually to see if cement mortaring is coming loose; replace all with lime mortar as required.
The lead work and tiling on all section of the roofs should be checked every two or three years, ideally annually.
All guttering on all roofs should be cleared annually.
All vertical drain–pipes, 12 in all, should be checked and cleared as necessary, particularly tops and bottoms, and especially the down–pipe on the east side of the main entrance.
The horizontal drain leading in to the ancient grave stone needs checking more frequently and clearing of any rodents‘ nests.
Especially important is the drain by the vestry needs to be cleared.
Check the glass repair of the stained glass windows on the east and south east. The glass has been blown through/cracked by what appeared to have been shot gun pellets.
A window mullion close to the north entrance needs further building-up.
A layer of roofing felt has been added to the ridge area leading to the north room; if any of that area should leak again, that can normally be detected from dripping from the toilet roof.
The boiler room was re-roofed in about 2011. It should be OK until about 2028, but worth occasional checking.
Church Internal.
As in many churches there is no Damp Proof Course (DPC) in any of the walls and of course it would be far too expensive to have one injected. Hence, as in all such buildings, the walls have dampness They are painted with internal lime – wash paint, and unfortunately emulsion paint, that can flake off. The walls should be fine for years,
There was a huge amount of leaching of chemicals particularly around the pillars closest to the main entrance. It looked like a frothy material which rubs off easily but can also drop off, possibly onto passing people. It has been cleared many times and possibly finished coming. But this is worth monitoring. There has been no evidence of this for approx. four years.
About one third of the vestry has recently been re-roofed. Quite a few years ago its western wall was re-plastered and two of its walls lime-washed. This can easily be checked again.
Note. The graveyard boundary wall facing the north end of the church is made of at least eight different types of stone and brick and in places been badly rebuilt unfortunately with cement mortar. A small working party rebuilt with lime mortar those sections of the wall which had been collapsed when someone pulled out ivy from the wall thereby collapsing a lot of stonework and leaving other sections dangerous to those walking alongside. The wall, an extreme example of historic but bad workmanship, should last a good few more years providing occasional checks are done.
The base of the war memorial was re-built in about 2013 including relocating the metalwork. The mortar had all crumbled away and was totally unsuitable for supporting wreaths, it was also very unsightly. The rebuilt base does still look quite sound but could well get some minor cracking in the future.
If you have any questions regarding the above please contact David Adamson who produced the original notes.