Grade I Listed Church Repairs Start In Time To Protect History

Repairs costing £1m have begun on the roof of a Grade I listed church to protect murals that are over 800 years old.

St Leonard’s Church in Flamstead, Hertfordshire is a 12th-century church that has been at risk of closure since 2017 due to dangerous levels of decay that have affected its medieval roof.

This problem was magnified after the building’s copper roof was removed and the true level of rot was made clear, with the main ridge breams being completely rotted through due to damp and deathwatch beetles, causing a potential safety hazard and leading to the erection of temporary supports.

This led to an appeal for funds to undertake a listed building restoration, which would ultimately raise nearly £300,000 from local donations and a further £750,000 from the Heritage Lottery Fund.

This allows for large-scale repairs and improvements to the building’s weatherproofing and damp issues to protect and conserve centuries of wall paintings.

Currently, the scaffolding is complete, the roof has been installed and the next step is to uncover and restore as many original features of the church as possible.

The building and its various shifts and changes are markers of major events in English history, with the beautiful murals being hidden during the Reformation period in the 16th century, where the rise of Protestantism led to a lot of older catholic churches being significantly renovated.

A lot of art was either removed or covered up and was not rediscovered until the 1930s, where a treasure trove of murals, monuments and graffiti from the medieval period was rediscovered.

It is believed that the murals in particularly were made by the same artist who painted the murals found at St Albans' Cathedral.