1970s restoration

Major works were carried out to remove dry rot and reroof the church

 

in 1974, the church was given a fibre glass roof, the first in the country.

 

Also in 1974 the church was found to have dry rot. The roots of the rot were excavated and traced to a burial under the church floor. The inside of the church had to be gutted; pews were stripped out, under-floor heating pipes were taken out and the solid fuel boiler was removed from the south west corner of the nave.

 

In 1975 the trenches for the cast iron steam pipes were filled in with concrete which effectively blocked off access to the crypt under the chancel. The walls were plastered.

 

At the end of 1976, a Granwood floor was laid over concrete. The cementing and the plastering were done by a small team of boys from a young offenders’ institution. The work was overseen by the church architect, the late John Pike of Hawksworth.

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While this work was going on, Revd Geoffrey Blackmore took the opportunity to revise the whole church layout. The font was moved (causing damage to its stem) from the west entrance to its current position at the west end of the north aisle. The Saxon cross shaft was moved to the base of the tower. The coffins removed from under the church floor were re-interred in the churchyard.