Chapel Renovation

Chapel Renovation

Are you wondering why Memorial Chapel is covered in scaffolding? After nearly a century of wear and tear, the Chapel was in need of a maintenance makeover. Wall, guttering and roof repairs may not seem very exciting, but they are essential to protect our iconic Chapel building for the future.

The Chapel is 64m long and over 26m high, so a lot of scaffolding was required, securely fixed and maintained so that the Chapel could continue to be used throughout the maintenance work. The completion date for the maintenance work is in January 2025.

Chapel is an important historic building with Grade 2* listed status and all repairs have to be done by specialist stonemasons and builders, with the correct materials and following heritage best practice guidelines.

  • Whilst cleaning and repairing damaged stonework, our builders discovered that the limestone balustrades were originally secured using flint fixings - flint is incredibly hard and has the advantage that, unlike iron, it does not rust.
  • The balustrades are very low (not much more than knee height) and so steel wires will be installed to provide extra protection for maintenance workers who may need to access the external walkways.
  • In some areas the pointing had worn away -  this is being replaced with heritage-standard mortar.
  • Cracked lead guttering has been replaced with modern materials.
  • For many years there has been a crack running from the roof gable straight down the centre of the West wall and window. Although this is stable and not a structural risk, the crack is being filled in whilst the scaffolding is in place.
  • It is good to know that the roof itself is in remarkably good repair and the loft running the length of the Chapel shows no signs of damp. Other than replacing a few loose tiles, nothing needed to be done to the roof.

 Catherine Smith, Archivist

For many years there has been a crack running from the roof gable straight down the centre of the West wall and window. Although this is stable and not a structural risk, the crack is being filled in whilst the scaffolding is in place.