Water from stone? — High Street Methodist Church

We are blessed to have a wonderful building as a base for our Christian mission

If you've seen our building recently you can’t have failed to notice the metal scaffolding currently enveloping the front of our church. It has been erected to enable roof repairs for the next 6 to 8 weeks.

Rain is getting in through the walls into various rooms at the front of the building. Our building is nearly 100 years old and these problems have occurred before. Repairs have been made, but they have also now failed, with other areas of facade stonework deteriorating.

In trying to understand what was going on, our surveyor has undertaken a review of the various roofs that make up our building. Many of the repairs are small and not urgent so our in-house team can remedy them. However, work to the front façade is urgent and requires a professional solution, which has now started.

The work involves cutting out old stone and replacing it with new stone, as well as cutting out old mortar, particularly some previously done with sand and cement, and remaking the joints with lime mortar.

We are using JS Stonemasonry from Chalfont St Giles. The proprietor is the fifth generation of the family working in stone. He and his team have worked on Buckingham Palace, The Tower of London and Wells Cathedral among many others.

The original quote for the project was £21,600 however now that the scaffolding is up, we can see clearly where there are further problems and we are having to replace two additional pieces of stone.

All the costs of maintaining the church and its activities are paid for by you and me as we don’t receive any funding from external sources. We are blessed to have a wonderful building as a base for our Christian mission, and we simply couldn't keep it in good condition without your ongoing financial support.

A monthly standing order or even a legacy would literally cement your contribution into this wonderful building. Click here for more information on how to give to High Street.

Peter Black
Property Steward

March 2023