Repairs Report

These notes refer to the contract for works to St Mary’s Hornsey between Rev Geoffrey Seabrook and the Churchwardens and the Trustees of the National Heritage Memorial Fund dated October 2002, and the Supplementary letter Ref PW-01-90517 dated 13 December 2004 and the letter from English Heritage dated 22.11.2002 and Appendix (the Approved Purposes):

The HLF funding was matched by S106 grants from St James Homes and LB Haringey and by donations from The Friends of Hornsey Church Tower covering items 1-5, accompanied by grants under S106 from LB Haringey covering item 6 and by funds donated by parishioners for item 7.

Work to the Tower was carried out by Cliveden Conservation Workshop Ltd between May and December 2005.

The completed project is the fruit of 10 years preparation by the Committee and results in the use of the Tower by a new congregation and the prolongation of the oldest building in Haringey.


Repointing, Lead Weatherings, Drainage and Rainwater Goods

Repointing
The masonry on the tower has wide mortar joints which had been very deeply eroded over many years. Following examination from the scaffolding it was not possible to simply fill these joints. Stones had, over time, weathered to round forms and arises had generally been removed.

The repointing technique adopted was to form lime mortar water shedding ledges on the lower face of the joint, reshaping the upper edge of ashlars and rubble to give water run off from the wall surface.

Lead weatherings
‘Hats’ of lead sheet cut into joints and dressed over string courses and sculptures had been included in the tender documents. These weatherings can lead to hard spots channelling run off, and to deflecting water and concentrating erosion. On close examination site the decision was made to omit lead weathering except in the 2 cases of sculptures over the west window. Instead, the mortar ledging technique described in 1 above was extended to string courses and the heads of sculptures.

On the two medallions nos 24 and 25 over the west window, with eroded stone hoods, a replacement hood of stainless steel sheet was inserted. This will replace the effect of the missing hoods and protect the newly shelter coated images.

Drainage and rainwater goods
The clearance, refitting and repainting of the rainwater pipe was completed. A new lead rainwater hopper, with overflow spout was built and fitted, which now allows cleaning and clearance of the RW pipe from the roof of the tower.

Conservation of Carved Stone

The Tower has over 20 Medieval sculptures, most are eroded remnants but four have detail remaining. Following the report on the conservation of carved stone from Holden Conservation Ltd, Cliveden Conservation Ltd carried out the antifungicidal washing of all the sculptures and the consolidation and lime wash coating of the western medallions nos 24 and 25. A further amount of work in consolidation and coating remains to be done on the internal angel figures on the south arch of the new chapel.

The effect of the lime shelter coating treatment of no 24 and 25 has been to cover over some of the very fine carved detail which survived in a very fragile state – but will prolong the overall life of the forms.

Internal Plaster Repairs and Floors

The major surviving element of plaster is the ceiling of the old vestry (now the new chapel) which has bosses and mouldings of 1828 and the walls with masonry lining of the same date. The plaster surface and masonry lining of walls above the south arch has been reinstated following the removal of rusting buried service pipes. Further consolidation of ashlar surfaces is to follow in conjunction with sculpture conservation (funded by the Heritage of London Trust). We had proposed to replace section of the greensand masonry with new stone but it was decided to pin and secure the existing stone and defrasse surfaces. The whole chapel space was cleaned and recoated with limewash.

Floors/panelling
Existing floorboards in the old vestry (new chapel) were patched and repaired and the floor polished with beeswax. Sections of dado panelling were remade in matching Columbian pine.

Electrical Installation

The electrical installation was checked and made safe. In the new chapel it was extended with new fuses and circuit to operate the front door lock and lighting. New power sockets were fitted to the floor. The supply was made independent of the upper floors.

Stonework

A major aim of the repairs was to replace the machicolations on the tower parapets and this has been completed successfully. Several fallen stones were lifted and replaced and there are 4 new stones in Box Ground bath stone, which closely matches the early nineteenth century Oxford stone.

Examined from the scaffolding it became clear that the tower had been repaired in the past with a variety of stones. The major rubble surface of ferrestone, once locally available, was patched with a similar stone from the sand pits beside Westerham in Kent. Original greensand from Kent was matched as closely as possible by using similar coloured sandstone from Hampshire. The silhouette of the tower is now restored to its nineteenth century appearance. In general the heavily weathered surface appearance of the exterior has been retained.

The Clock Faces and Mechanism

The Clock Faces
The tower has two faces. The one facing west has a hood of moulded stone. The face is of black painted copper sheet with gold numerals. This was last repaired in 1926 and has now been repainted and reglued. The north face is a gilded iron ‘skeleton’ frame which has been cleaned and repaired.

Mechanisms
A new turret clock movement is awaiting fitting. The clock hands are driven by an electric motor which operates both faces. The aim is to restore the faces to mechanical operation and to replace the pendulum and chimes.

The Chapel

The Chapel has been formed in what was once the vestry of the old church. It is lit by the west window inserted in 1832 and has a medieval greensand arch with two angel capitals. The walls are lined to dado level in pine panelling. The name list of the 1914-18 war dead of the parish hangs in a new timber frame on the north wall. The altar is sited below the west window. The chapel seats about 20 people and services are now held twice weekly on Wednesday and on Sunday mornings.


Much work remains to be done in the interior to bring the tower into full use for church and educational purposes.

Last updated 21/03/06