Nave Roof Restoration 1882/3

Costs

An announcement published in The Norfolk Chronicle and Norwich Gazette on December 30^th 1882 stated the following costs as supplied by Ewan Christian in November of that year. The same announcement records the contributions received at that date as being £1,065 12s 1d.

Item	Cost (£)
Repair of the Nave Roof, Clerestory Walls and Windows	627
North Aisle – entire repair Roof, Windows, Walls, etc., with some work on South Aisle	534
South Porch	136
Internal Cleansing, Flooring and Refitting	846
Tower and West Doorway	501
Rehanging Bells	120
Warming	150
Architect’s Charges	291
Total	3,205

Fundraising

Raising funds for the Chancel repairs of 1864 had been relatively easy since they had been financed partly by the lessees of Deopham Manor, and partly by the Ecclesiastical Commissioners. There was no particular burden placed on the vicar, the Rev. Hibbert Wanklyn. However, it was down to him and the churchwarden to raise the funds to cover all the other restorations. Raising funds specifically for the Nave Roof restoration started in earnest with the issuing of a circular in 1881. Full details of the circulars issued and some of the associated correspondence is presented here.

Objections

Objections to the nave restorations were two-fold:
Firstly, the organisation founded by William Morris, the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings (SPAB) felt that the proposed works were too drastic. This is explained here.
Secondly, there were moral objections to the use of funds in a way that was seen to be privileging the Church of England over the other Christian denominations. This is explained here.

Carrying out the Work

Work started in July 1882¹ and by the end of December 1882 the easternmost two bays had been restored:

Photo: G. Sankey, Feb 2024

The Eastern Daily Press of December 28^th 1882 reported:

After the lead was stripped off the condition of the woodwork was so much worse in some respects than anticipated that it was found necessary to take the whole of the timbers down in order to restore them properly. One new principal and the beam were requisite. Nearly all the old mouldings and carved-work were pronounced fit to go up again, and were carefully sawn from the otherwise rotten timbers and screwed or bolted to the new ones.

Photos: Liz Sankey, Feb 2024

There is a full set of photos of the roof carvings here.

The same Eastern Daily Press article reported that the cost of the whole roofing project would be £650 plus the architect’s fees at 10%.

The Eastern Daily Press also commented in the same article on a number of murals that had been revealed, although they were subsequently painted over and are no longer visible:

Some mural paintings have been found on the walls, one over the chancel arch. A shield, six feet high, with supporters lion and griffin, nine feet high; royal arms, date 1579, E.R. 21. A copy has been taken by Miss Wanklyn and Miss Evans (the vicar’s niece), and sent to the Herald’s College, by which the arms are reported to be those of Queen Elizabeth. Further paintings are discernible on the north aisle.

The work was then paused for the winter of 1882 and resumed in 1883.

Kelly’s 1883 Directory recorded that:-

In consequence of the dilapidated condition of the roof and nave, north aisle, the windows of the latter and the flooring of the church, service is now held in the chancel only, which is boarded off from the rest of the building: restorations (commenced July 1882) are in progress and will be continued so long as the funds in the hands of the vicar (who is raising subscriptions) will permit: the tower is also in a very unsatisfactory state: it is estimated the total cost of restoring the edifice will be about £3,200, including £500 for the tower.

Work Completed September 10^th 1883

This certificate refers specifically to the completion of the roofs:

Image courtesy of Lambeth Palace Library

The nave roof looking westwards:

Photo: G. Sankey, Feb 2024

Nave re-opened for services July 1884

Norfolk Chronicle, July 12^th 1884

On August 13^th 1884 the Rev. Hibbert Wanklyn wrote to the Ecclesiastical Commissioners to let them know that the nave had been in use since July 30^th and that he would like to see their promised donation of £65: