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July 24, 2005
Abbey under repair
The Monk's beloved Abbey is showing its age in a number of ways, not least in decaying stone on the West and North faces of the tower and on the North and South Transepts where originally the walls were protected by "Out Buildings". This stone must now be repaired or replaced, and the Abbey cngregation faces the task of raising around £2.5 million to do it. It won't be a short task either; the tower (the highest Norman Tower in England at 135 feet) is slowly dissappearing under scaffolding both internally and externally. This will remain in place for at least the next six years while stone masons carefully cut out the decaying stone and replace it with new.
Fortunately the Abbey was built with local sandstone - from Stanton Quarry near Stanway - and we can get and match the stone perfectly, as a result. Already the surveys have been done, and we know exactly what must be renewed, what replaced, and plans have been made to tackle it in stages which will undoubtedly reveal other lurking defects. This was certainly the case when we tackled the repair of the great West window - £25,000 of releading, cleaning and resetting turned into nearly £250,000 - when it was discovered that the stone mullions were crumbling and being split apart by wrought iron rods installed in the 16th Century to fix the window in place!
So, we are launching an Appeal. This will be managed by a professional campaign manager and will be targeted mainly at financial institutions, charities who look after ancient buildings, and wealthy donors. Of course the congregation will be making their own contribution as well; we have a target of £250,000 for ourselves to raise, no easy task as we are almost all working folk who have other demands on our funds as well. Many think that the government pays for or, at least maintains, the building. They don't; we have to pay for everything ourselves with the help of a group known as "The Friends of Tewkesbury Abbey", whose sole purpose is to maintain the fabric of the building and its contents. Everything else is the responsibility of the Church Wardens and the congregation.
Given that this is one of England's best kept and important historical buildings, (It was the last Abbey to be dissolved and is the only one bought by the townspeople and preserved in its entirety), it is worth keeping and supporting. Perhaps we can even shame the "Heritage Lottery Fund" into coming up with some cash to support the changes we must make to provide for the disabled and wheelchair users - something the Norman architects didn't consider at all.
So, I am making an appeal to all who read this to give us a hand with this. Even the "Widow's Mite" will be useful; it all adds up remarkably quickly once the ball starts to roll. Even if you don't want to make a donation, buying something from the Abbey Shop - some of its goods are now available online - will give us a boost as well.
I can certainly commend to you the two DVD's entitled Deo Gratias and Welcome to Tewkesbury Abbey, both the work of a resident film-maker and member of the congregation which tell you about our life and work in the Abbey Parish and the money from these goes entirely to the Abbey's funds. Even your prayers will be of help.
Thank you all.
Posted by The Gray Monk at July 24, 2005 12:28 PM