Scaffolding will be going up on the spire at St Peter’s Church in Bengeworth next Tuesday as work begins to repair the spire. Built in 1873, the spire has been significantly affected by weather over the years and will now need to be partially dismantled and rebuilt to ensure it remains safe for many more years.
The spire stands at 171 feet tall and has been gradually leaning over. This lean has been caused by Ironwork (called cramps) in the spire’s structure becoming weathered on one side and rusting. As the cramps rust, they expand and literally lift the spire on one side (known as jacking). After receiving professional opinions from the church’s architect and structural engineer and following consultation with Wychavon Building Control and the Diocese of Worcester, the decision has been taken to remove the top section of the spire to protect it from collapse and to ensure public safety.
The Revd Andy Smith, Vicar of St Peter’s Church, said:
“Many people will have noticed that the spire isn’t as straight as it used to be! It’s important that we ensure that the church is safe and the spire doesn’t collapse on its own, so next week work will begin to dismantle it and cap it off to a lower level. The full work of rebuilding the spire will cost over £500,000, so we’ll be starting a fundraising campaign and we expect the whole process to take around five years.”
Over the next few weeks steeplejacks will be working to safely dismantle the spire. All the material taken down from the spire will be recorded and stored so that it can be reused in the proposed future restoration.
Whilst the works are in process, some church activities won’t be able to take place, but there will continue to be services in church at 9.15am and 11am every Sunday and at 8am on the second Sunday of each month. The Point Café on Tuesdays from 11am-1pm will take place in the Community Hall on Broadway Road (the red brick building Immediately next to the old cemetery). More details are available on St Peter’s website www.stpetersbengeworth.org.
Andy continued:
“We are in the process of setting up a ‘Rebuild the Spire’ fund and details of how to contribute will shortly be available on our website and social media pages. If you would be interested in helping or have any fun fundraising ideas, we’d love to hear from you – contact us at hello@stpetersbengeworth.org.”
St Peter's Church in 1875, 2 years after it was built
