New roof for St Peter’s Church…
…beats weather and thieves to save our heritage.
The roof of one of Leicestershire’s most iconic churches has now been replaced with stainless steel after callous thieves stripped the lead off it three times. The replacement is not worth as much to scrap metal thieves as lead thus detering further crime.
The repairs were made possible by a National Lottery Heritage Fund grant of £97,000 plus funds raised locally by villagers determined not to let thieves destroy the heritage of an historic church.
And the repair work uncovered another piece of history. A lead plaque, dated 1822, (pictured) was found on the chancel roof by workers. The name on the plaque is a plumber Thomas Scott, from Market Harborough, who fitted the previous lead nearly 200 years ago.
Roz Folwell, Project leader and spokesperson for Saving St Peter’s, who lives in Church Langton, said: “The state of the main beams, after 153 years, is perfect, no sign of rot or infestation. Thankfully the new roof was completed well before the recent Storm Freya.
We are very pleased that National Lottery have made these essential works possible, and that we have been able to use a proportion of the grant to reroof the chancel as well, due to costs saved elsewhere. It has been leaking, patched and repaired for years.
This additional work has left a £12,000 shortfall. Thishas been mostly found through reclaiming the value of the lead left on the aisle roofs and two very generous donations. The response of villages has been fantastic.”
Keeping the countryside clean
