A CHURCH is waterlogged after thieves stole lead from its roof for the second time in as many months – just before two of the worst rainstorms in years.
St Botolph’s Church in Newbold was this week due to replace lead stolen from the roof two months ago and install a new state-of-the-art alarm system.
But on Sunday morning (May 27), the church’s Vicar was shocked to find water in the nave and on the pews, and daylight shining through the roof.
Thieves left the church vulnerable to last weekend’s floods by stripping lead from the roof.And a further torrential downpour that evening saw water ‘cascading’ through the ceiling, saturating pew cushions, carpets and books and leaving pools up to two inches deep.
Unable to claim any more on it’s insurance policy, the church now faces an estimated £30,000 repair bill – “a huge amount for a parish with limited resources,” said church warden Mike Beevers.
“We are mortified and incandescent with rage,” he said. “The whole place was saturated.
“When I walked round that evening, every time you put your foot down on the carpet, there was a ‘squidge’ as water came up around you.
“The thieves will only get a few hundred pounds for the lead they have taken, yet they’ve caused such a huge amount of distress and expenditure to other people. They don’t realise the consequence of what they’ve done.”
The pews were covered with tarpaulin to prevent further damage inside the waterlogged church.He added that although the theft had caused huge problems, the church had received a great deal of goodwill from Rugbeians.
He said: “An awful lot of people have said how sorry they were to here about this, even people who don’t go to church – people who got married here, or whose children were Christened here, or who have relatives buried here.
“There was a lovely comment on Facebook where someone said ‘I’m grown up now but when I was a youth, I used to do graffiti, but we never did churches – that was a no-no!’”
Rev Paul Wilkinson said: “The church is a big part of the community of Newbold on Avon and has been for hundreds of years. It provides a place of reflection, prayer, love and brings people together in life’s happy and sad times.
“Due to the church being a Grade 1 listed building, we are limited to the materials that we can use to make repairs. We are currently obtaining guidance to establish what materials are suitable, and what the cost of the repairs will be.
“We’re now reliant on fund raising and the generosity of all those who care about this beautiful building. Anything you can donate is greatly appreciated and will help to secure, protect, and insulate the building for use by future generations throughout our community.”
Visit www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/stbotolphschurch-newboldonavon to donate.
