Home  ::  The Churchyard  ::  History  ::  Pictures  ::  The famous wall paintings

The Conservation & Refurbishment Project Our mission The famous wall paintings Services Activities News and Events The Church The Choir Bells and Bellringers John Hampden Hall Contact us How to donate Links Location Map Sitemap

The Conservation & Refurbishment Project Precious Heritage - Precious Future                             Project Update - 4th November 2015 The work continues to be on schedule. The stonework is almost completed and the base coat plastering also is nearly finished. Further wall paintings have been revealed on the north wall which are believed to date from after the Reformation. It is hoped that further work will be carried out between now and Christmas to reveal as much of this painting as remains and to stabilise and conserve it. Project Update - 20th September 2015 Here is a PowerPoint presentation, "So Far", that was shown to the PCC and members of the public in the John Hampden Hall on Monday 14th September. It describes some of the work done and discoveries made in the project to date. Project Update - 10th September 2015 As promised, two OPEN DAYS have been arranged. These will be on Friday 16th October and Friday 20th November from 2pm to 3.30pm. All are welcome to see the progress made on the project so far. We are at an interesting stage in the refurbishment, as most of the cleaning and removal of loose stonework and emulsion paint will have been completed. Also, our conservator has recently discovered some more wallpaintings over the arch of the north door. As the picture shows they are a clear motif design. The smaller motif appears elsewhere in the church, but the larger one is new to us. Does anybody recognise it, perhaps from wallpaintings seen in other churches? We look forward to seeing you at an Open Day. Please bear in mind that the building is a work 'hard hat' area and visitors will need to be shown round in small groups while others wait their turn. Project Update - 24th August 2015 We are now in the third month of the works and progress continues well. The nave roof timbers are being cleaned down and have been found to be in excellent condition and the quality of the Victorian carpentry is a joy to see. It was up here that the hobnailed boot was found, as shown below. It will be kept available for appropriate research and the plan is to restore it to the same place for future generations to discover. A detailed examination of the nave walls at all heights has revealed no further wallpaintings. However some interesting fragments have been found in the south porch. Paintings in a porch are rare. One section is a motif that matches the 15th Century paintings on the east wall of the north aisle. Another section is a different style and thought to be 17th Century. They are small fragments only but will be carefully treated and left exposed as interesting pieces of archaeological evidence. The picture on the left shows the overpainted design on the right of the 15th Century wall painting in the north-east coner of the north aisle, while the picture on the right shows the same motif discovered above the arch of the door from the south porch into the church. The photo above shows the c.17th Century zig-zag pattern of a painted border discovered on the west wall of the south porch Other work going on can be more clearly seen from the outside. Where there are missing pieces of stonework due to weathering, new stones will be cut to precisely fit. Also some top sections of some of the windows have been removed for repair and conservation in a specialist workshop. We still have a gap to fill in our finances for the project, though this is reducing due to recent grants from trust funds, as well as local donations for which we are most grateful. Details of how to contribute, should you wish to, are in the Post Office, and also below. Project Update - 15th July 2015 Good progress has been made in the first month of work on the church. Scaffolding has been put up throughout the nave and side aisles. This gives the builders access right up to the apex of the roof. They have made a start on cleaning the ceiling and roof timbers, removing the dust and cobwebs of many decades. It is quite possible that nobody has been up that high in the roof since 1886 when it was re-built. This might explain the discovery of an old leather boot complete with hobnailed sole! Work has also started on cleaning the emulsion paint from the stonework. This is done by a high pressure 'Doff' system which produces a jet of steam within a hand held brush which also has a suction hose to remove the residue. Trials in different areas of the building indicate that the system will work well, and good progress has been made high up on the south arcade of the nave. A temporary screen has been erected at the east end of the nave to prevent the dust spreading into the chancel. The chancel has been filled with scaffolding to allow our conservator, Madeleine Katkov, to fix protection to the wallpaintings high on the east wall prior to the builders starting to clean the ceiling in that area. Project Update - 11th June 2015 Scaffolding has now been erected around the south side of the nave and the tower in preparation for the repair of external stonework. So what are we doing to St.Mary's Church? Watch the video below to find out. Project Update - 31st May 2015 The church is now closed and most of the furniture and fittings have been removed into storage. The organ has been dismantled and removed, see the video below. The accompanying music was played on the organ by Chris Devonport shortly before it was dismantled. Project Update - May 2015 Following our successful second stage bid to the Heritage Lottery Fund, we have now raised sufficient funds to be able to start the project. A shortfall of £56,000 remains and we are still fund raising to fill the gap. In the meantime we have received faculty approval for our plans from the Oxford Diocese and are able to sign a contract for the building works with Ward & Co Ltd. As a result St.Mary's church building will close on 1st June for the work to commence. We will be allowed access to the church in December for some Christmas services, but the church will otherwise remains closed to both visitors and the community until just before Easter in 2016. There will be opportunities, as arranged with the contractors, for viewing the works from time to time and these will be publicised in advance on this website, as will news about the progress of the works. During the period of the closure the Chalgrove Methodist Church have very kindly invited us to worship in their church in Chapel Lane, and we shared our first Sunday service with them on Sunday 31st May. The changes to our services are listed on the Services page. The service for Pentecost on Sunday, 24th May, was the last one in St.Mary's church until the completion of the works next year. Thank you for your support of this exciting project. We look forward to welcoming you into the completed building when we re-open next year. DONATIONS If you are interested in supporting the appeal with a donation, there is a donation form and gift aid declaration that can be can be downloaded here (.pdf format). You may also now Donate using JustGiving If you would like to help in any other way , please contact the PCC Treasurer, Karen Mulcahy at karen_mulcahy@hotmail.com or on 01865 890460 or the Project Leader, Charles Baker at cb@charlesbaker.org or on 01865 400402. ********************************************************** The following press release was issued on 2nd August 2014. Conservation of medieval wallpaintings and other precious heritage assets at St Mary's Church, Chalgrove, Oxfordshire wins Heritage Lottery Fund support The Parochial Church Council of St Mary's Chalgrove, in South Oxfordshire, has received initial support from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) for a project which aims to enhance the Grade I-listed 12th century building and its contents, in keeping with what has been inherited from the past. Development funding of £30,000 has been awarded to help Chalgrove Church progress its plans to apply for a full grant of £369,000 at a later date. The project aims to conserve the 14th century wallpaintings, and explore other walls in the church for further hidden wallpaintings using the latest 'radar' imaging techniques. New heating and lighting systems, sympathetic to the mediaeval artwork, are planned and are being developed. Further works to be undertaken will remove damaging paint from stonework, and through re-plastering and re-decoration, the church, with its "Precious Heritage", will be given a "Precious Future". The church's chancel contains "one of the most complete series of wallpaintings in the country" (Nicholas Pevsner: The Buildings of England published 1947) and the 44 images there present "one of the best impressions of a fully painted parish church interior of the period" (Royal Academy of Arts, 1987). Educational plans will be developed to assist national and international visitors of all ages in their understanding of the heritage items of interest in the Church such as tombs and mediaeval brasses as well as the stories depicted in the wallpaintings. With the assistance of the Chalgrove Local History Group, a fuller picture of its place in the history of the village and the country will be presented through new literature, learning opportunities, and digital depiction on our website. The church also will be re-equipped for today's village life with better access for disabled users and a sound enhancement system, which will be valued by school children and event organizers as well as those using the church for weddings and funerals. The village has always enthusiastically supported the conservation of their church, raising funds for the preservation of the bells, a rare turret clock, a Friendly Society Banner from years past, and the church building itself. The Vicar, the Rev Canon Ian Cohen, said: "We are very encouraged that the HLF Trustees are keen to see us complete our important works and are currently minded to give us 50-60% of the cost. With their support, and with their help mentoring this stage of the project, we should be able to develop our plans in a way that ends in success for everyone. The glory of Chalgrove Church is that it is a country church, which has always sought to serve this village and neighbourhood. In the future, with the enthusiasm generated by HLF support, its heritage can be shared so much more widely." Stuart McLeod, Head of Heritage Lottery Fund South East, said: "Chalgrove Church houses a rare near-complete set of wall paintings which offer a unique insight into Christian beliefs in the 14th century, with even more paintings potentially waiting to be uncovered. We're pleased to support the church and the local community as they develop their plans to secure the future of their much-loved building and its assets and open them up for even more people to enjoy."        [End of press release.] Background Earlier phases of work on the fabric of the church have ensured that the exterior of the building is in good condition and more recently the works in the Tower and the re-hanging of the bells were completed. The conservation and refurbishment project now in hand involves work on the interior of the church, and the chancel and nave. This will include new lighting throughout, in order to show up the beauty of the building and provide flexibility for the different purposes for which it is used. Special lighting will illuminate the wallpaintings. A new heating system will add to the comfort of all, as well as protecting the fabric of the building. A sound amplification system will be installed, with a sound loop to assist people with hearing difficulties. It is also planned to remove the emulsion paint from the stone pillars and arcades, and to replace the plaster which was removed many years ago because of damp. The nave will be redecorated throughout, and the south porch entrance improved with new double doors. Some reorganisation at the west end of the nave will entail removing the vestry and making new oak storage cupboards. The pipe organ has been deemed to be beyond repair, and will be replaced with a digital one which will give better quality of sound in the right areas of the church. The console will be in the chancel, alongside some new choir stalls which can be re-arranged to suit different needs. Overall, this much loved church will retain all its charm and dignity. The feel of the church for worship will be enhanced, and the building will be much more flexible for all the other uses, such as social events, concerts and art exhibitions.

Visitors since 1st July 2004	Copyright 2004© St Mary's Church, Chalgrove, Oxfordshire www.chalgrovechurch.org site design by: cmm