WHAT ARE WE PLANNING TO DO?

·   Improve access into and within the building. If you use a wheelchair, are a bit wobbly on your feet or pushing a buggy, then this is for you! No more temporary ramps.

·   Add glazed doors to the south porch so that we can leave the oak doors open: we want to make our church open and welcoming.

·   Build an accessible toilet within the church, by the vestry door where the flower cupboard is currently. Its specification will accommodate disabled users and will provide baby changing facilities.

·   Improve the servery – more/better appliances and a supply of hot/cold running water. No more carrying trays of unwashed cups across the church to the vestry; no more carrying water across church; no more washing up in the inadequate sink in the vestry.

·   Reinstate a ringing platform in the tower, creating a room below which we can use as a creche/play area on Sundays and a room for meetings at other times.

·   Bring the font back to the middle of the church – it will now sit ‘in the crossing’: a focal point when you come in. 

·   Improve the appearance at the back of the church with better flooring and under floor heating. We want this to look like a properly designed space, not just like the back of the church where we moved a few pews.

WHEN IS THIS ALL GOING TO HAPPEN?

·   A huge amount of work is behind us – including working out what we want from the project, appointing architects, completing the surveying and the technical design

·   Because we are a Grade I listed building we need permission to undertake the work. Ahead of seeking permission there is a process of consultation with heritage bodies. That process is currently underway

·   We will shortly be going out to tender to identify a contractor and to establish the exact cost of the project

·   Our current expectation is that work will be underway on site in September/October

·   There is likely to be work of one sort or another underway for up to six months

·   The church will remain operational throughout though some disruption is going to be unavoidable

HOW CAN I FIND OUT MORE?

·   There is a clip of a presentation here that describes the project and answers to ‘FAQs’ below.

·   Talk to any of the project team: Rev Tom, Michael Ryley, Phil Cobb, Nigel Dodd, Tony Beecroft and Jane Foster

·   Detailed plans can be requested through the Church Office

OTHER FAQ's

Why have we decided to undertake this project?

Two reasons:

Firstly, we think that the facilities in the church need updating and improving. Many churches have upgraded/modernised their facilities. We have done little in recent years to keep up with changing expectations. We aspire to be an open and welcoming church. That involves making people comfortable when accessing and moving around in the building. Moreover, if we improve our facilities we can expand the range of activities which the church can accommodate, thereby opening up the building to a wider section of the community. It’s a medieval building, but it has evolved over its lifetime to meet the changing requirements of each age and this will be another phase in its development.

Secondly, the Ministry Leadership Team and the PCC have done a lot of work analysing what we need from our buildings to support the range of church activities we want to engage with. This project will allow us to do more in the building, supporting the growth and development of our church.

Tell me more about what the south porch will look like.

We will remove the unsightly grilles and build timber/glass doors at the entrance to the porch. The porch will become a closed space, but because we can then leave the oak doors wide open, as you approach the church you will see straight into the interior. This should make the experience more welcoming and more comfortable for those people who are unused to visiting a church.

It might look a bit (but not altogether) like this:

You won’t notice it, but the porch floor will have been dropped to the level of the church floor. No more steps! We will regrade the access path – it’s quite a long run, so this will be a gentle change.

In the porch we will redecorate and replace the noticeboards with some more suitable alternatives. The grilles from the inner door will be removed. We plan to keep the old oak doors open as much as possible, but in severe cold we will still have the option of closing them.

The objective is to allow people to move into the building easily and to be encouraged to do so by an open and welcome feel.

How will disabled people/people with reduced mobility move around the building?

As described above, access through the south porch will now be level. Disabled and able-bodied visitors can access the church in like manner. We want to emphasise that all are welcome and for everyone to feel at home.

Once inside, permanent ramps will allow access to the new tower room, which is up one step and into St John’s Chapel, for access to Thursday 9.30 services or for access to the High Altar on Sundays. For those who wish to use the step/grab rail currently in place at the entrance to St John’s Chapel, that option will be retained.

Building regulations mean that all we are doing will have regard to the requirements of disabled people.

Will one toilet be enough?

There is not room to build further toilets within the building. Of course, we already have facilities in SMC. This toilet is for those who need a facility close by, for emergencies, for those who might struggle to get over to SMC, for the mother with a baby whose nappy needs urgent attention and the like.

What’s wrong with the current servery?

The servery is going back to the south aisle, where it was before we did the building work in that area at the end of last year. It can’t stay where it is – there would simply be too much ‘traffic’ in that area of the building, with vestry access, a WC and the servery.

We only have water in the vestry. What we want to avoid is the current practice of having to carry water, food, washing up, etc across the church. So we’ll take water under the floor from the vestry to the site of the servery. We will build in a dishwasher and other improved facilities. There is a limit to what we can achieve as a result of fire regulations and we don’t want the church to look like a café, so the servery will not look a great deal different from its current appearance – but it will make life much easier for those who are providing our refreshments.

A working party of those who so often use the servery to provide us with refreshments has been set up. They are well placed to identify the pitfalls with our current set up. Nigel Dodd is leading on this – talk to Nigel if you’d like to know more.

What do the changes in the tower mean for bellringers?

To create a room in the tower at ground floor level, we need to move the bellringers upstairs. A mezzanine floor will be installed. That’s nothing new – there used to be one, which was in place for over 300 years until the Victorians took it down due to its poor condition. The bellringers will walk up a conventional staircase to access the chamber. The necessary adjustments will be made to the ringing arrangements.

We have taken advice from a bellringing specialist, who has overseen the design in conjunction with the architects. We are advised that the proposals will be very suitable for bellringing. Changes to the superstructure will mean that the view of the west window is improved.

How will we use the tower room?

A flexible screen will enclose the new tower room. That screen can be opened to facilitate access for brides, coffins and general entry to the building through the west door as at present.

When shut, the room will provide a space for our youngest members on Sundays and a meeting room at other times.

What will the back of the church look like?

Having removed some pews and exposed the platforms, the floor looks a little confused – some tiles, some wood. It looks as if we have just pushed some furniture aside. However, this is a discrete part of the church which we want to look smart and coherent, so we will replace the flooring across the whole space with one single stone finish.

Why move the font?

This wasn’t on our list of requirements as originally drawn up. However, two firms of architects separately advised us to relocate the font to a central position at the ‘crossing’. From a design perspective it will tie the whole thing together. It will provide a focus when coming in to the church and when looking down the nave from the west.

The more we thought about it, a move would confer other advantages. Fonts are usually found near the door, because they represent entry into the faith. By moving the font to a central place near the door, we are emphasising the importance of the sacrament of baptism.

The rather unusual placement of the font at present only goes back some 40 years. It was moved there so that people could see better when a baptism was taking place within morning service. Given changes in the seating arrangements in the north aisle, it now looks somewhat ‘stuck in the corner’. For many people it is difficult to see. Under the new arrangements we will reimagine how we stage baptisms, whether by arranging seating around the font or by using a ‘pop up’ font at the chancel step where all can see, including the streaming camera.

It will look a bit like this (but bear in mind that our font doesn’t have such a large plinth):

Yes, brides and coffins will need to walk around it, so we will be making adjustments to the back pews to accommodate this. Yes, children could run into it – but they can likewise run into it where it is placed at present. If this is likely to be a problem we will make some sort of removable cushion to address the risk.  Yes, it will take up some space, but we are making space for it and utilising the space its removal creates at the east end of the north aisle.

The church can look untidy – what are we going to do about this?

We want to tidy up the church and we will be building various storage cupboards, principally in the north aisle but also in other spots as the opportunity arises, with a view to packing away tables and the like.

Why not get rid of all the pews?

The scope of this project is based on a solution that is not going to cause controversy, is deliverable and is affordable. We need these improvements now – the bigger the project, the bigger the potential for controversy about heritage issues and the greater the cost. These all jeopardise or at least delay progress.

We don’t see this as the end. It might be appropriate to remove the pews. There are improvements we really need to make in and around the chancel through further reordering. But that will need thought and discussion. It will raise additional heritage issues and incur a cost we can’t currently meet. We don’t want to have to close the building temporarily. So that is for another day, once we have delivered this project. Nothing we are doing now will compromise our ability to embark on further reordering as and when we choose to do so.

Why is this project taking so long?

Yes, we’ve been talking about this for ages – but there has been a lot to do. Timing has not always been in our own hands. Some of the things we have done are as follows:

·   A group began meeting informally to work out what our needs are and what options are available

·   We then asked the Ministry Leadership Team to identify what resources they needed to deliver their plans for the mission of the church going forward

·   We commissioned a feasibility study from a firm of architects to explore and cost those options

·   PCC and the Ministry Leadership Team convened an away day to analyse the options and to set our priorities. PCC convened a buildings group as a sub committee to work on the project under its supervision

·   We applied for a grant from the National Heritage Lottery Fund and were successful

·   We held a competition to identify and appoint a firm of architects to work with us

·   A full survey of the building was carried out

·   The architects have produced a series of drawings to RIBA Stage 4. There has been a continuing dialogue with the architects to get the design into a form with which we are comfortable

·   Dialogue is now underway with the Diocesan Advisory Committee and with heritage bodies to get the necessary permission in place to undertake the work 

When is this all going to happen?

·   A huge amount of work is behind us – including working out what we want from the project, appointing architects, completing the surveying and the technical design

·   Because we are a Grade I listed building we need permission to undertake the work. Ahead of seeking permission there is a process of consultation with heritage bodies. That process is currently underway

·   We will shortly be going out to tender to identify a contractor and to establish the exact cost of the project

·   Our current expectation is that work will be underway on site in September/October

·   There is likely to be work of one sort or another underway for up to six months

·   The church will remain operational throughout though some disruption is going to be unavoidable

Who is paying for this?

·   We gratefully acknowledge a substantial grant from the National Lottery Heritage Fund

·   There will be an opportunity for the church community and other users within the community to contribute

·   We will use our fabric resources as necessary

How can I find out more?

·   There is a clip of a presentation that describes the project here

·   Talk to any of the project team: Rev Tom, Michael Ryley, Phil Cobb, Nigel Dodd, Tony Beecroft and Jane Foster

·   If you’d like to look at the detailed plans, email the Church Office