Heritage Lottery Fund Project

GP-16-01388                                                     

Saint Laurence Church, Measham

Stonework and Stained Glass Restoration and Heritage Interpretation Project

The Story of our Project

Having received news of the award of our grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund at the end of August, there was much rejoicing – and the realisation that we would now face a period of very hard, but hopefully enjoyable work.

Although we were still awaiting Permission to Start from the Heritage Lottery Fund, we felt we could use the Heritage Open Days at the start of September as a training exercise in offering guided tours and a children’s trail. 3 volunteers ran tours involving 15 visitors. The volunteers found the experience positive and were able to fine tune aspects of their approach and the content of the talks. The tours, according to feedback, were well-received; ‘northernvicar’ included a glowing report on his blog: http://www.northernvicar.co.uk/2018/10/02/measham-leicestershire-st-laurence/

Photographs of one tour can be seen in the photo gallery.

Permission to Start was granted on 17^th September and a meeting for 26^th arranged with the Architect, Weldon Stone and the Team Rector to finalise any issues, look at possible problems and to sign contracts. A start date of 1^st October was agreed, although, inevitably, there were last minute snags; a tree had to be removed to give room for the scaffolding; this was in the plans but not expected at this stage. Various memorial items had to be moved for safety reasons and a delay agreed about covering the organ.

A press statement was agreed with the Lottery Fund and sent to 4 ‘local’ newspapers and a free magazine. The press release was also posted on our website and the Church notice board. Materials were ordered from The Heritage Lottery Fund to be displayed during the project to acknowledge the grant made possible by National Lottery players.

The contractors began by taking templates of the stone which needed replacing. At the same time, at their depot, the stonemasons were undergoing full training in the use of ‘hot’ mortar in preparation for the insertion of the new cut stone and other stonework repairs.

Invitations were sent out to local and national representatives, village organisations and individuals to a Launch event planned for 22^nd November. Exhibition materials were reviewed and developed in preparation for this and an Open Day on 24^th November. People in the village showed a keen interest in the Project and there was also great enthusiasm for the possibility of onsite workshops.