Long Sutton’s historic St Mary’s Church wooden spire is riddled with woodworm and needs urgent help with £30k fundraising goal set

Europe’s oldest and tallest wooden spire is in urgent need of repair with a fundraising goal of £30,000 to save it from woodworm.

Recent inspections at St Mary’s Church in Long Sutton have revealed major problems hidden under the lead cladding. Residents are being urged to rally around and do their bit in the fight to safeguard its future – and it has also emerged that spiders are playing their part to help deal with some of the impact naturally.

There are significant infestations of death watch beetle and woodworm in the timber frame and the woodworm have attacked the surfaces of the timber – while the death watch beetles have bored deep inside them.

Father Jonathan Sibley, St Mary’s vicar, said: “It is a great worry that this very important historic structure is in need of such urgent repair, and we hope that organisations and individuals will be generous enough to help fund it.”

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Members of the community are proud of the lead covered timber spire which soars into the sky and is visible for miles across the Fens. It was built around 1200, with its timbers carbon dated to as far back as 1120.

This remarkable structure was reputedly used as a model for the original Early English spire at Salisbury Cathedral and is the tallest wooden spire in Europe.

Fr Sibley continued: “At the moment the church architect, the structural engineers and the timber specialist are deciding on the best course of action.

“Because the wooden ladders and one of the wooden platforms are infested with woodworm, access is difficult – and dangerous.

“The good news, however, is that the timber specialist has discovered that a special type of spider has found the spire.

“These spiders are capturing the woodworm and beetles and cocooning them in their silk before eating them!

“He believes that nature will deal with the infestations without recourse to chemical treatment.”

Timbers have been replaced and reinforced many times since the 13th century, the last one being in the 1970s.

The structural engineer believes that the highest part of the framework will need completely replacing, as well as other timbers, the platform and the ladders – a difficult task in such an enclosed space.

As the spire is a roosting place for bats, the advice from the Bat Conservation Trust is that any work should be carried out in April to avoid disturbance.

Parishioners have been busy raising enough funds to pay for all the surveys that have taken place, but much more is needed to pay for the timber replacements.

The national Church of England does not finance building repairs and all funds have to be raised locally.

A fundraising page has been set up to attract donations and Fr Sibley added: “All help will be gratefully received.”

Visit the GoFundMe page to help out the cause.

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