Current Issue
Cathedral Care
Restoration and upkeep of cathedrals
There are some 42 Anglican cathedrals in the UK, not to mention 20 or so Catholic cathedrals. Cathedrals form the most important collection of historic buildings in England. The largest and most ancient are internationally famous, the smallest are usually among the most significant buildings in their region and even the most recent are architectural masterpieces.
Master Craftsmen
Championing our heritage with modern craftsmanship
Twenty years ago, English Heritage (now Historic England) published its first-ever Register of Buildings at Risk across England, which featured nearly 2,000 buildings and monuments that were ‘neglected, broken and unloved’. Recently Historic England was delighted to announce that over two-thirds of those buildings were now safe, in both urban and rural areas right across the country.
Traditional Lime
Lime: it’s better for buildings – and for the environment
It is now fairly well known that cement is not good for old buildings and that lime mortar should be used. But why? What are the advantages and what are the disadvantages? In order to begin to answer those questions it is necessary to understand the nature of traditional building, the process by which buildings used to be built, and how it differs from modern construction, the process by which we build today.
Audio Visual
Audio visual equipment in church buildings
This guidance is issued by the Church Buildings Council under section 55(1)(d) of the Dioceses, Mission and Pastoral Measure 2007. As it is statutory guidance, it must be considered with great care. The standards of good practice set out in the guidance should not be departed from unless the departure is justified by reasons that are spelled out clearly, logically and convincingly.
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Stained Glass
A brief history of stained glass
The origins of the first stained glass windows are lost in history. The technique probably came from jewelry making, cloisonné and mosaics. Stained glass windows as we know them, seemed to arise when substantial church building began.
By the 10th century, depictions of Christ and biblical scenes were found in French and German churches and decorative designs found in England.
Back Issues
Natural Stone
Identifying and sourcing stone for repair
England is fortunate to have such a wide variety of historic and older stone buildings. However, there has been a marked decline in the range of natural stones that are being actively quarried.
Pest Control
Call in professionals if nesting birds pose a problem
Birds can cause a range of issues during nesting season, but interfering with wild birds, their eggs or nests could lead to prosecution, a national trade body has warned.
CRE Events
Thousands set to descend on Sandown
The next incarnation of Christian Resources Exhibition will be CRE National 2022 – taking place at Sandown Park in Esher, Surrey, on 11-13 October.
Sandown Park is a great venue for Europe’s leading annual exhibition of Christian resources. Just 15 miles from central London, the venue is easily accessible by rail (25 minutes from London Waterloo to Esher) and road (M25 and A3). Parking is free for exhibitors and visitors.
Lead Roofing
Lead is one of the oldest materials in the roofing industry and is still commonly used throughout the world today.
Lead roofing is a traditional roofing method which has been used in the industry for hundreds of years, and is therefore proven to be extremely reliable. Lead roofing, and sand-cast lead, in particular is ideal for old buildings such as churches or historical renovations, whereas milled lead roofing is a mass-produced alternative, used for precision and accuracy in homes and commercial buildings alike.
Energy Efficiency
Energy Efficiency and Historic Buildings
Historic England supports the Government’s aims to improve the energy efficiency of existing buildings through Part L of the Building Regulations. Many improvements can be carried out, often at a relatively low cost, significantly enhancing the comfort of the building for its users, as well as providing savings on fuel bills and helping to meet greenhouse gas emission reduction targets.
Lightning Protection
When lightning strikes are you protected against this act of God?
The issue of lightning protection in churches is one that has exercised this publication for many years. In this four-part series of spotlights on the issue we will be revisiting various aspects of the subject, beginning with an overview of current thinking.
Heritage Roofing
Heritage roofing - maintaining our iconic buildings
The UK is home to some of the most iconic buildings in the world, from stunning churches and cathedrals to historic stately homes. Each and every one of these remarkable feats of architecture requires regular maintenance to ensure they remain in the very best condition, allowing them to be enjoyed for generations.
Church Lighting
Light up your place of worship
The design of a lighting scheme and the light fittings themselves can have a positive impact on the way your building looks as well as being functional.
Live Streaming
Why live stream is now mainstream
The restrictions around the COVID-19 pandemic have led to many churches venturing into the online world in a much more comprehensive way than before. While most churches have had some kind of online presence and the Church of England has it’s a Church Near You site, the live streaming of services has become much more common. And modern AV equipment is perfectly suited to communicating via the internet.
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Restoration of Birmingham Botanical Gardens’ historic bandstand complete
The historic, Grade II listed bandstand at the Birmingham Botanical Gardens has been restored to its former 1874 glory after six months of painstaking work by conservation specialists.
The local landmark, which sits in the Gardens’ Grade II* listed 15-acre grounds in Edgbaston, has been completely transformed, following a 12-month fundraising campaign that raised £138,000.
The missing stained glass at the heart of our Victorian heritage has been replaced
The RHN is celebrating the restoration of its beautiful stained glass windows in its Victorian Assembly Room. The original windows, designed in the 1870s, were destroyed in bombing raids in the Second World War. After the war limited funds meant that the broken windows were replaced with plain glass. In recent years the windows and frames had become too fragile and were boarded up.
Using a single black-and-white archive image of the original windows, Chapel Studio worked with the Heritage of London Trust (who gave a start-up grant) to design new windows in keeping with the originals. The work cost £230k, which was raised in record time entirely through donations from generous individuals and organisations.
UK Roofing Awards 2020 winners announced
The winners of the UK Roofing Awards 2020 have now been chosen. Owing to ongoing Covid-19 restrictions, the live event that was previously scheduled to take place on 28 May 2021 was not able to take place.
However, due to the high calibre of all of the entries, NFRC felt that it was essential that the judging of the awards would still take place and for the first time, this was done entirely online, by a panel of highly regarded industry figures.
ISCVEx rescheduled to March 2022
The Institute of Sound, Communications and Visual Engineers (ISCVE) is re-scheduling its annual exhibition and seminar programme for 2021 to March 2022. Already postponed from March 2021 due to the Covid-19 lockdown, the ISCVEx committee, responsible for planning and organising the event for ISCVE announced its decision to reschedule to next year at its recent annual AGM and Members’ Day.
“With the level of uncertainty surrounding the timescale of vaccinations combined with mixed confidence and appetite for attending events, we feel the pragmatic approach is to take ISCVEx off the calendar for 2021 and reschedule for March 2022. This allows visitors and exhibitors to plan ahead in order to attend, what we are confident will be, the best ever ISCVEx event, with our expanding AV presence as well as our core sound roots,” confirms Helen Goddard, President, ISCVE.
Yorkshire brickmaker’s award highlights fight against slavery
A leading Yorkshire brickmaker has been honoured for its high ethical standards - as the brick industry fights back against the widespread use of child labour and slavery in South East Asia.
The Easingwold-based York Handmade Brick Company, the largest independent brickmaker in the north of England, has been awarded the brand-new Brickmakers Quality Charter to underline its moral standards and green credentials.
The award comes from the Brick Development Association, the trade association for the UK’s brick industry.
Protecting places of worship during the pandemic
Places of worship were among the list of buildings closed in early attempts to slow the spread of coronavirus, during the first national lockdown in March 2020. Initially, instructions for clergy permitted those who lived nearby to continue to use their church buildings, for prayer and to celebrate the Eucharist.
However, shortly after the Prime Minister’s announcement on 23 March, the Archbishops of Westminster and Canterbury wrote to all clergy and included them in the widespread closure, stating that “Our church buildings must now be closed not only for public worship, but for private prayer as well, and this includes the priest or lay person offering prayer in church on their own.”
Temporary renewals implemented for lightning conductor engineer and steeplejack CSCS cards
The Association of Technical Lightning & Access Specialists’ (ATLAS) Council has voted in favour of temporarily amending the standard CSCS card renewal requirements for its sector, due to coronavirus severely restricting access to training. This has meant the suspension of the requirement for an Anchors for Steeplejacks and/or Working at Height for Lightning Conductor Engineer course in order to renew blue or gold Steeplejack and/or Lightning Conductor Engineer CSCS cards. As a result, on a temporary basis, the Health, Safety & Environment Specialist Work at Height Test will be sufficient to renew a CSCS card, but this will be valid for one year only.
John Taylor & Co - founders of the world's finest bells
John Taylor & Co. continues a line of bell founding which has been unbroken since the middle of the 14th Century when Johannes de Stafford was active only 10 miles from the site of the present foundry.
From 1784 the business was operated by members of the Taylor family, and in 1839 it moved to Loughborough as a condition of a contract to recast the Parish Church bells. The Foundry was moved to its present site in Loughborough in 1859 and is now proud to operate the largest bell foundry in the world.
Ducie Street Warehouse shortlisted for AJ Retrofit Awards 2021
The Ducie Street Warehouse is a vast red brick building of 7 stories high, looming over the Rochdale canal basin in Manchester. It originally belonged to the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway, and was used to store cotton bales shipped over from America, before they were sent down the canals to the mills of London. Manchester was specially chosen as a hub for the cotton trade because its famously damp weather conditions kept the raw cotton moist enough for milling later.
Revolutionary Hinowa TeleCrawler 13 gets first UK buyer
Access Platform Sales has supplied the first groundbreaking Hinowa TeleCrawler 13 in the UK to access rental company Elavation.
The Hinowa TeleCrawler 13 is the first tracked spider platform in the world to have all-electric drive.
Access Platform Sales (APS), Hinowa's UK and Ireland authorised distributor, delivered the eco-friendly platform to Elevation's HQ in Wolverton, Milton Keynes.
Family stone company turn their skills to church and heritage sector
Weldon Stone are a long established and well respected stonemasonry company specialising in the repair, restoration and conservation of stone buildings both as main contractor and specialist subcontractor with over 200 years of combined experience in the field.
The company was founded in 1977 by father and son team Derrick and Peter Dunn at the Weldon Stone quarry near Corby in Northants and extracted the remaining rare and beautiful Weldon Stone whilst developing the stonemasonry side of the business.
Victorian church embraces modern technology
The year is 1873, in the middle of Queen Victoria’s reign. William Gladstone is the Prime Minister of the day and Richard Benyon MP, then owner of Cranham Hall near Upminster in Essex, makes a generous offer to pay for the parish church to be rebuilt. The original parish church of All Saints’, built in the early 14th century, has fallen into a state of disrepair.
Many years earlier the selling of silverware and altar equipment had funded repairs to the timber structure but on this occasion a new building was required. The medieval church was demolished just after Christmas 1873 and a new stone church erected in its place. The result was a modern and welcoming Victorian building with a warm internal appearance which remains standing strong.
Thieves increasingly targeting historic properties, warns specialist insurer
Historic properties are being urged to take steps to prevent being victims of crime following a spate of thefts from churches and stately homes.
According to data from Ecclesiastical’s claims team over £400,000 worth of claims have been made relating to the theft of stone since 2015. Since 2016 the figure has doubled pointing to a worrying increase.
The warnings come as the UK’s National Intelligence Unit for Serious Organised Acquisitive Crime (OPAL) reported a spate of incidents in the theft of York Stone from properties in the North of England.
ISCVE announces two online seminars for Annual Members’ Day
The Institute of Sound, Communications and Visual Engineers (ISCVE) is pleased to announce two online seminar presentations for its Annual Members’ Day. The online seminars are open to ISCVE members and non-members and will be presented by leading AV industry and Audio industry figures following the ISCVE’s annual general meeting.
The first presentation, taking place online on 10th March 2021 2:30-3:15pm, is titled ‘AV Over IP using NDI®’ and will be presented by Liam J Hayter, Senior Solutions Architect EMEA, NewTek. The presentation will be taking a look at how NDI® AV over IP technology can deliver next generation AV solutions, from meeting rooms to auditoriums, to TV Studios and Video Conferencing.
New commissions keep heating specialist busy
It is turning out to be a busy New Year for specialist church heating contractor Mellor and Mottram and its managing director Stuart Mottram.
Fortunately, in these strange times, it doesn’t involve a great deal of travel as the three projects they are due to start imminently are within striking distance of the firm’s Stoke-on-Trent base.
Two of those projects are in churches that are centuries apart in their ages. St Alphege in Solihull, West Midlands (pictured), is a Grade One-listed building, parts of which have stood on the High Street site for over 800 years. It is a flourishing parish church, one of three in the C of E Parish of Solihull.
Lightning protection and steeplejacking body passes third quarter century
This year marks the 75th anniversary of ATLAS, the body representing lightning protection companies and other access at height specialists. Its members have been at the forefront of the lightning protection and specialist access trades for many years and undertake access, inspection, repair and maintenance work on a range of structures – in particular churches and heritage buildings.
Hinowa platforms spearhead hirer's sustainability revolution
Pioneering sustainable access provider 4Hire has taken delivery of a second lithium electric Hinowa spider platform as it powers ahead with plans to create one of the UK's most eco-friendly plant and machinery fleets.
A lithium Hinowa Lightlift 15.70 Performance IIIS was the first machine on the order book two years ago as 4Hire pledged to make itself one of the most sustainable plant hire specialists in the UK.
