Mirfield Church and College Resurrected by Anelay

An Anglican monastic community based in Mirfield, West Yorkshire, has a new look home following the recent completion of a £2million restoration project at the Church of the Community of the Resurrection.

The 39 week long refurbishment, which focused predominantly on the removal and levelling of stone flooring, has been carried out by York and Manchester based William Anelay, a 264-year-old building restoration and conservation business operating under the auspices of Architects Harris McMillan and Quantity Surveyors Randall Simmonds LLP on behalf of clients the Community of the Resurrection.

Inspired by the rule of St Benedict, the Community is part of the Anglican Church of England and its brethren work closely with a wide variety of people around the world. Founded in 1892 by the Reverend Charles Gore, the Community moved to Mirfield in 1898, then one of Britain’s most thriving industrial centres.

The Grade II Listed church, which acts as the principal place of worship for the community, was built in 1912 from local quarried stone and is topped off with distinctive copper roofs in the Byzantine style. Patrons of the rebuilding appeal include Archbishop Desmond Tutu and Dr Rowan Williams, the current Archbishop of Canterbury who lectured at the venue in the 1970s.

Anelay Site Manager Andy Gabel took up the story: “The principle objective when we arrived on site in April 2011 was to remove the 1000m² of existing stone flooring and then level it out within the main area of the church. The same process was carried out on the 400m² ground floor with ceramic tiles providing the new surface.

“We have also introduced a lift shaft at ground floor level that will provide ‘access for all’ conforming to the latest DDA stipulations as well as installing underfloor heating covered over by ceramic tiles.

“The Church also required extensive refurbishment of its heating, lighting and plumbing systems and the incorporation of a modern acoustic system.

“Externally defective roof tiles were repaired and damaged rainwater goods have been replaced. A number of the Church’s windows also required attention and we have carried out repairs to the stained glass and stone mullions.

“This has been a major challenge especially given the access issues and we’ve had to be creative in our choice of plant machinery! We’ve used the smallest and most powerful diggers available for the floor removal and have utilised a stone crushing machine within the Church which has allowed us to recycle the stone.

“When we arrived on site everything had been taken out of the Church apart from two tombs which were protected before works commenced. All of the plaques within the interior of the Church were also covered.

“A new font, crafted in Italy from solid marble, has been installed together with attractive mahogany and beech benches built at a local prison!

“Father George, operating on behalf of the client, has adopted a real hands on approach to the ongoing work and he’s been involved constructively and decisively within every phase of work carried out,” added Andy.

Father George commented: “We are absolutely delighted with the quality of the work carried out on the Church. In the Centenary year of the Church’s construction it has given us a wonderful environment for prayer and worship, for the activities of the educational institutions on the site, and for our work with the thousands of people who come here. "

"Barry Ennis of Harris McMillan Architects said: “The passion across the teams involved has enabled solutions to complex challenges. There is now a fresh ambience which compliments the rich heritage of the Church. We are delighted that the vision for transformed and revitalised spaces has been so well executed."

William Anelay MD Vernon Carter said: “William Anelay has helped to refurbish hundreds of churches and places of worship and we take a great pride in the expertise and skills that we can bring to such projects.

“The Church of the Resurrection has been a major development and I’m delighted that the work is now complete and the venue can resume providing religious education to members of the Community here,” he added.

The Community at the Church of the Resurrection can now face their Centenary with a renewed confidence and vigour within a building that is fit for purpose in every way.

For more details visit www.williamanelay.co.uk