St Andrew’s Church in Northborough gets new lease of life after £94,000 restoration project

An at-risk church has been given a new lease of life - and something in common with the world-famous Notre Dame cathedral - after urgent roof repairs were completed.

The Northborough community embarked on an extensive programme of fundraising events and grant applications after the village church was placed on Historic England’s At Risk register in 2020.

And last week saw the culmination of that four-year project at St Andrew’s as the scaffolding came down after the first phase of repair was completed.

“We were thrown in the deep end a little when we started fundraising, but the team was always very positive and willing,” said campaign chairperson Clare Strak.

Work to replace the leaky chancel roof began in March, but delays followed when parts of the underlying timber supports were found to be rotten when the old lead was removed.

Major strengthening was needed to support the four tons of replacement lead.

“We were afraid that would happen so had a contingency in the budget,” Clare explained.

“The weight of the lead going on was twice the weight of the lead that was there before, so it needed oak without any knots or weak points.”

After a further wait for permission from the Peterborough Diocese for the extra work, stonemasons began replacing rotten coping stones - flat supporting stones placed at the top of walls.

Replacement guttering and downpipes followed before the new lead was fitted by a Leicestershire company, one of the few to still use sand cast lead - a traditional technique dating back to medieval times.

The firm worked on major projects at Windsor Castle and York Minster, and supplied lead for the restoration of the Notre Dame Cathedral roof after a major fire in 2019.

“It’s entirely possible we have a little bit of Notre Dame in our village church because it all gets recycled over time,” Clare added.

“The team doing the works have been a delight. To see the stonework and the craftsmanship is amazing.”

The extra work took the final bill up to around £94,000, all covered by community events, donations and grants from the Wolfson Foundation, the Cambridgeshire Historic Church Trust, Garfield Weston Foundation, and National Churches Trust.

The volunteers now plan to ‘draw breath’ before fundraising for the next phase of work - to re-point the church’s west wall and repair the 12th-century church’s bellcote.

“It has been an exciting journey and absolutely fascinating,” said Clare.

“It’s been frustrating in some ways, but we are all thrilled.”