**18/11/18 Looking East - What a lot of scaffold poles!**

**7/12/18 chris - the scaffolder in chief….'“Its going well in spite of the rain”**

**all safely covered up and ready for the restoration to start February 2019**

**PLENTY OF SCAFFOLD ON THE INSIDE AS WELL!**

Scroll down to see most recent photos and info at the bottom of the page.

This page aims to keep up with the progress of the restoration process and the ups and downs that there will inevitably be.

We have several more projects to finalise the updating of the church to make it sustainable for future generations. Most important is a toilet facility which is planned to be outside near the double metal gates. The Bells and the Window frames also need attention

If you are able to help towards funding these extra but important items please Click Here!

**11/12/18 Progress interrupted by rain rain and more rain. The mats are to try and limit the mud**

**20/12/2018 The protective lid goes on.. Eleven men working on site in between downpours.**

**30/1/19 Wow! Where has the tower gone?**

HISTORIC DISCOVERIES!

Some interesting artefacts have been found in the ancient roof space including a small painted wooden piece and decorative carved trefoil thought to be from a rood screen dating from the 14th or 15th century! There was also a wooden plank cut with an axe with the name of the Victorian master builder carved on it in c1860. He was John Westlake of 79 Fore Street, Camelford.

Also an early carved capital that was found filling a gap in the south aisle wall. It is thought that it could be from an earlier church/chapel and dated around 1150 AD. It is from the top of a door pillar for the door arch to rest on.

**John Westlake - the victorian master builder of 79 fore street camelford, carved his name on this plank in about 1860 and left it in the roof space**

**15/16th century decorative wood - probably from a screen - with original paint - 500 years old!**

**early capital for a door pillar with a small piece of plaster left on it. probably dating from around 1150 AD**

**Ancient Rotten rafters in the north transept - Probably the oldest part of the church**

Unfortunately the roof timbers have been found to be in much worse condition that was originally thought during the opening up inspection. The medieval oak rafters are so rotten in places that pieces of wood have disappeared, although the wood that remains is as hard as rock. The Victorian restoration 150 years ago used rather light weight pinewood and extensive A frames and tethering are now required to support the the roof. Sadly, the extra cost of strengthening the roof of the whole building is £50,000, but we have had generous emergency top up grants and donations that have reduced the deficit to £22,000. On top of this, the tower roof has just been found to have significant problems still under investigation.

The Good, The Bad and The Awful! Good progress was being made with the roofing work until the tower roof beam was recently investigated in August 2019 and found to be rotten and unsafe. Another big expense on top of everything else. Not a lucky find, but eventually it was sorted with the skilled work of the contractor and his mates

Now it is the turn of the window and medieval stained glass

**The weak vitorian supersrtucture has been removed and replaced with a much stronger framework. The medieval beams remain underneath and help to keep the ceiling up**

**looking down on the tower roof with slates removed you can see that the main suppot beam is completely rotten**

THE BIG BREAKFAST FUNDRAISER.

With a great deal of extra funding needed, members of FOLC agreed to gang together with friends and relative to organise a BIG BREAKFAST at Camelford Hall. Together with some generous donations this has raised about £500 towards the repair of the tower roof. Another £19,500 is still needed!

**The super efficiant waitresses reaDY TO TAKE ORDERS**

**the big breakfast at camelford hall - fundraising for the tower roof**

NOW EMERGING FROM ITS CHRYSALIS!

The tip of the tower pokes its head out from the scaffold after a year inside. If you look carefully you will see the excellent repointing work and if you were up there you would find that the pinnacles are no longer about to fall down and the roof is repaired and watertight.

The ‘Great Restoration’ is coming to an end - even though we are still short of some much needed funds.

We have to continue fund raising for the bells

If you can help please check out our home page