St Paul 's - One year on from re-opening
Mothering Sunday, 25th March 2007
The re-born St Paul's celebrated Mothering Sunday, 1 year less one day since re-opening on Mothering Sunday 2006
Formal re-opening Service with Bishop Christopher - 8pm Thursday 25th May
During this very well attended service the Bishop gave St Paul's a Covertry Cross made of nails. The croos signifies Christ's triumph through disaster, he told us. The Coventry Cross also stands for reconciliation with all. The cross he gave us had been given to him by the Anglican Chaplain in Baghdad, being supported at this time by the Bishop Og Guildford's foundation. He felt that he should give it to us.
St Paul 's goes on!
Progress Report April 10th 2006
Sunday Services are now held in the re-born St Paul's - Please come along at 8am or 10am
The first, on Mothering Sunday (26th March 2006), was attended by some 470 people
St Paul 's goes on!
Progress Report November 4 2005
Now we have a new date for finishing work on St Paul 's: end February next year – still some four months away. We're sorry that it's not Christmas. But we'd rather take the time to get it right.
There's a lot still to do. Underfloor heating has gone in, and just been covered up. The windows are almost finished. The gallery room is taking shape. But the plastering continues – that's a long job. There's a lot to do with wiring. The new organ and audio/visual systems need to be installed. And there is decorating, and some restoration.
Now we have a reliable date, we can begin to plan for the opening.
Easter is the day of Christ's resurrection.
We will have a resurrected church.
St Paul 's goes on!
Progress Report 17 September 2005
Much is going on …
The new west porch is taking shape, with its imaginative steel structure.
So is the new north porch, which will lead into St Augustine 's Chapel – to be open daily for private prayer.
Eight out of ten windows are in place – bringing back some glass that was there before the fire.
Inside plastering goes on, wires are drawn, heating pipes begin to snake around the church, and the chancel ceiling is being painted…
And there's much to do – restoring the figures on the chancel arch, finishing the plastering, getting all the light fittings up…
30th June - Bells reinstalled!
Update 26th June 2005
These pictures show the now restored tower and new clock face plus the church showing the new roof.
The gaps where the windows will be have been covered with black plastic to keep the inside of the church dry.
We are still on target for Christmas'
Update May 30 2005
The new Welsh slate roof is fine and the temporary roof has been removed.
The clock faces have been put back on the tower (though not the new mechanism)
The small windows have been put into the tower.
The new stone work is fine, and nearly finished.
Then the scaffolding will come off the tower too.
Inside, the ceilings are being remade; then the scaffolding will come down inside as well, for work to start on the floor.
Work will also soon start on the new porches.
The builders still hope to be able to finish the whole job by just before Christmas.
Update 26th March 2005
Nave roof well in hand and chancel roof making good progress
Update 25th February2005:
Progress with the new roof
Update January 2005:
Mick Clifford (Sextons Demolition) handing over to Patrick Vincent (Deeks and Steere)
On 5 th January 2005, following the completion of the structural repairs, Sextons Demolition handed over the St. Paul 's site to Deeks and Steere who will carry out the work needed to re-open the church.
It is planned that during the time of rebuilding there will be occasional ‘open days' for people to come along and see how the work is going.
Sextons will be missed, and many parishioners have been to say goodbye and thank you. But a good relationship is developing very quickly with Deeks and Steere, and we hope to see both contractors at the opening ceremony.
Update 12th December 2004:
On Sunday 12 th December, the first anniversary of the fire, the local community gathered together for carol singing in the grounds of St. Paul 's . The music was led by the Salvation Army band and St. Paul 's choir. There were at least 275 people – there were also people standing out in the road who couldn't get into the churchyard – so maybe more than 300 altogether. The mood was very positive, though sometimes very emotional. The photographs show people arriving for the carol singing and also the outside of the church with the decorations on the railings and the Christmas lights put up for us by the builders. Also the latest picture of the inside of the Church.
The BBC News Web Site reported this event: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/southern_counties/4091341.stm
Update 18th November 2004:
Builders (Deeks and Steere plc of Godalming) have now been appointed to put a new roof on the nave and to repair the chancel roof. They are hoping to complete the roof by the end of April, and then work inside the church can begin.
Repairs to the tower are now nearly finished and some of the scaffolding will be removed soon.
The stained glass windows are being taken away - They were very badly damaged in the fire. But sections will be used in the new windows.
The floor in the church will soon be completely levelled.
Plans are being drawn up for new entrance porches at the front and back of the church (it was always hard to find the way in!) but we will only build these if we have enough money – this wouldn't be covered by insurance.
We are still on target to finish by Christmas 2005
Update 7th June 2004:
A blue hoarding has now been placed around the walls of the church to make the building safe and secure. In the next few weeks we are hoping that it will be ‘decorated' by various groups of people, including children from local schools. This will be much more interesting to look at than blue paint.
The church centre has now re-opened. Our 8 am Sunday service is now held there, after months of very generous hospitality from the Salvation Army. During the week, groups are beginning to move back in. Toddlers' Church and the Guides start again there after the half-term. Other pre-fire users of the hall are also moving back in. And – a big development for us, about which we are very pleased - the 3Bs, the Runnymede Alzheimer's group which helps sufferers and their families, is now using the hall each week-day.
Now that we know the church building can be saved, a lot of thought will be going into the inside of the church. A previous update gave the address to send any thoughts and ideas - it's not to late to let us know your own thoughts on the style of the church interior – please send your ideas to Rev. Richard Hay, 140 Church Road, Addlestone. Ideas we received will be on display at an Exhibition on Friday 25 June (10 – 4) and Saturday 26 June (10 – 1) in the Methodist Church . Please come to see what local schools have produced, as well as other suggestions.
There will be various fundraising events later in the year—details to follow .
The Parish Garden Party will be held in the grounds of St. Augustine 's Church on Saturday 12 th June, from 2.00 pm to 5.00 pm. Barbecue, cream teas, entertainment, stalls, games and much more. Please come and support us.
Can you help to distribute these updates? Please contact Lynn on 831210 (office hours) or email lynnc54@aol.com
Update 16th May 2004: Parish Centre & Church Hall now back in use following cleaning and redecoration
As the yard/car park will remain a builders yard until the restoration is fully completed, access is through the hall itself. This is via a new gate down the side passage from School Lane. The passage has been resurfaced. Also, there is now also a covered area for prams & push-chairs next to this entrance. .
Update 6th April 2004: Fundraising target for new Processional Cross now reached
Following the 'Buns & Bunnies' event at Co-Op Funeralcare the £1,000 target has now been reached.
St Paul's Can be Saved (Update 28th March 2004)
A new flag flies above the church
Structural engineers have now reported that although the structure is very seriously damaged, it can be restored.
Full details will be in local press next week, and updates will be available shortly.
Your Parish Church will be Re-born
St. Paul's Church – update (27th Feb 2004)
Scaffolding has now been erected inside the church building. This will support the walls of the church while the burnt roof beams are removed.
When this work is complete, a temporary roof will be put up to enable the building to dry out.
Until the scaffolding is erected around the tower the structural engineers cannot test the safety of the brickwork, and until that happens we will not know if the building will be able to survive the damage. We are hoping now that this will be the case, but cannot be certain until the tests are done. Hopefully the next update will be good news!
St. Paul's Church – update (1st Feb 2004)
We have not heard from the police that there has been any progress on finding out who started the fire. There is now a notice outside the church entrance in School Lane which has a phone number that can be called in complete confidence by anyone with information. Please call 0800 555 111 if you think you can help in any way. You will not have to give a name or telephone number.
The church has been visited by a loss adjuster and insurance company representatives, who have reassured us regarding the extent of our insurance cover. We have also been visited by a structural engineer, and following the removal of all remaining slates and loose beams the nave of the church has been declared safe. The tower has still not been declared safe as there is not yet any scaffolding around it. We will not be able to use the hall until the tower has been made safe, both for ourselves and those working on it.
Scaffolding has been erected around the chancel, and a temporary roof has been put in place over the top. The next thing to happen will be scaffolding around the rest of the church (and also inside the nave to support the walls) and the tower.
A leaflet containing all up to date information and photographs is now available. I would be very pleased to hear from any local traders who would be willing to take these leaflets as and when they are updated, and also possibly to display a poster of special services and events for us. I shall be calling into as many shops as possible within the next few weeks to hopefully set up a ‘network' of people who can help in this way, but a phone call would be appreciated if you would like to help. Please contact Lynn Collis on 01932 831210 (Funeralcare in Station Road).
