Remaining Vigilant: Heritage sites

I wonder if it’s usual that as a blogger, one sometimes experiences the equivalent to writer's block? In the last few days I’ve had something resembling it! I put this down to that of late I haven’t been able to complete as many surveys as I would have liked. The surveys often provide the "raw material" on which I base my monthly blog, as regular readers will have noticed. Looking to the media for some inspiration, thank goodness, it didn’t take long for a heritage-linked topic to emerge!

No one can have missed the recent reporting of the theft of copper and other valuable metals in the newspapers and on TV. This week, the local BBC news featured a story in Lincolnshire where thieves had gone to a secluded area near the A57 road and stolen a substantial amount of copper insulation cabling from the overhead power lines, leaving a nearby marina complex without power for several hours. The obvious danger to life (a reported 11,000 volts runs through these lines!) was clearly regarded as an acceptable risk to those responsible, to say nothing of the lesser, yet significant risk to the livelihoods of the businesses affected. The story reminded me of one of the last surveys I did. In recent months the Lincolnshire Heritage at Risk team have been keen to complete the “Places of Worship” surveys by the end of September. I had just 3 churches left to survey on my list and set out to finish them one afternoon.

Arriving at the last of these churches, I followed my now established routine of walking 360° around the building. I have found that by doing this, the more obvious structural problems are revealed at a glance. I then go around once more, looking more closely before going if possible, to take a look at the church’s interior. I have found that good first impressions of a site are often an accurate indication of how well a property is managed and maintained and this particular church showed several of those signs (for example, the churchyard was neatly kept, the churchyard gate and fencing had recently been given a coat of preservative, and a welcoming message was pinned to the notice-board in the porch!) A separate message invited visitors who wished to view the church’s interior to call at an address in the village to collect a key. This I did and had the pleasure of meeting the church warden who was very informative about the church’s history and was interested to hear about the LHAR project. During our stroll back to the church, the warden asked, quite unexpectedly, "Of course, you’ll have seen the damage to the roof?" Incidentally, to those of you reading this who are Volunteer Heritage Stewards, have you ever seriously doubted your own credibility to properly survey a building? I have to confess, I did on that day! How could I have missed something so obvious as missing lead-work on a roof? Reassuringly, when the damage was pointed out to me I realised that the oversight was an easy one to have made as the stone work and parapets etc largely concealed the damage when viewed from ground level.

Apparently the thefts had taken place over a period of several months, a small section at a time. Firstly, the whole of the lead roofing and guttering from the south porch had been taken. On a second visit, the thieves had shown more effrontery by stripping a large section of the north aisle roof which is less than 10 feet from a well used village road. Not content with two raids, the thieves returned once more to take the lead from the south aisle roof.

Several issues presented themselves when I considered this lamentable situation. The small group of people who obviously take a pride in their village church are now faced with much unnecessary work and expense in repairing the damage done, together with the uncertainty of repeated thefts once the repairs are completed. Short of stationing individuals on a night-watch, with the real risk to personal safety that would pose, the church remains vulnerable to further damage and loss. It is disheartening to say the least to consider the craftsmanship in the lead-work having lain undisturbed for hundreds of years only to be ransacked in just 3 nights. To ensure that the building remains watertight, this particular church committee acted quickly by having emergency repairs done. This included the erection inside, of a temporary plastic “roof” covering the magnificent church organ – a precautionary step for the expected further removal of lead from the roof above (which at the time of my visit, still remained.) The cost of these temporary repairs must have amounted already to several hundred pounds. To someone with an interest in the preservation of our county’s heritage it is both irritating and upsetting to witness such wanton damage, and all for such short-term (if lucrative) gain. Where the thieves are taking their lead is an obvious question as it is clear that someone is buying it from them. 

In Lincolnshire and beyond, the theft of roof lead is I understand, widespread. It follows then that a similar level of damage, distress and unnecessary expense as described here, is being repeated up and down the country. (A recent radio article gave a shocking statistic that over half of Lincolnshire’s churches had suffered from theft of one form or another in the past 3 years.)

One cannot help feeling powerless in preventing such problems. We rely heavily of course, upon the police to deal with the incidents in the usual manner and are advised to report suspicious activity promptly. Perhaps as Volunteer Heritage Stewards we are in the advantageous position of being able to report any damage or irregular behaviour we see whilst out surveying? Ultimately if we are concerned in preserving our county’s heritage, we all have a duty to remain mindful of such crimes and to prevent further problems where we can.

Colin, Heritage Steward