MAJOR repairs to Barnard Castle’s grade I-listed St Mary’s Church have begun.
This follows a successful Lottery bid for £400,000 to fix a significant crack running down the west wall and make good eroding stonework.
But it is “business as usual” for the church during the 16-weeks that the work is expected to take.
St Mary’s vicar Revd Canon Alec Harding said the crack is believed to be caused by the weight of the Victorian bell tower, which is built on the foundation of a much lower medieval tower.
He said: “The crack threatens the window because as the gap widens the window could fall out.”
Ian Askins of stonemasons Askins and Little, which has been contracted to do the work, said engineers believe the building has now settled and the repair would include cleaning out the crack and filling it with mortar. The gap had been widening by about 1mm every ten years.
Also in need of repair are the clerestory windows on the south and north faces of the church.
Mr Harding said: “It is the stone around them that has eroded, particularly on the south side which gets the weather. It is really fierce.”
Mr Askin said the windows would be taken out to be refurbished and samples of the fancy tracery stone would be sent away to be matched so that the exact same stone can be used for the repairs.
Another job for the stonemasons will be to replace the mortar on the bell tower.
More than £1million has been spent on the church over the two decades that Mr Harding has been its vicar, but this is by far the most expensive.
Previously he has overseen the removal of the old organ and a labyrinth put in its place and a new organ installed, the lowering of the floor of St Margaret’s Chapel to make it more accessible and the porch being enlarged.
New toilets were also installed during that period.
Services will run as normal while the works take place.
He added: “The builders will work around what we need to do. It has been a long time coming.
“A lot of work has gone into getting us here and it is great to see the contractors now on site.”
Community archaeological group DigVentures is working on involving the town in the project with monthly talks, the creation of a virtual museum and the digitisation of the church’s 900 years of heritage.
Also starting this month are weekly guided tours which will take place each Friday.
The work is due to be completed before the summer weddings season starts.
