The submission to the Diocese for the main spire and roof repairs has been approved. A separate submission for the related works will be made a bit later. The next critical path activity will be a bat emergence/re-entry survey, most likely this
Porlock InSpired Project February 2025 Update Activity planning is progressing well and gaining momentum with strong partnerships being formed amongst others with local schools and the Exmoor National Park Authority education staff. The latter are working on plans to have activities related to woodland management, which includes shingle-making, hopefully in Porlock. Trial activities will take place over the next few months to give us an idea on what would or would not work for activities in the Delivery stage. We aim to showcase the results of these activities together with architectural drawings and plans at a special InSpired Heritage Open Day probably in July of this year. Meanwhile the fundraising timetable is constantly being updated to keep up with trust providers timeframes for awards and approval. The project to re-shingle the St Dubricius Spire is making progress, albeit slowly. The key activity recently has been a visit by the architect, structural engineer and a specialist roofing company. They opened up a small area of the church roof by removing a few slates to examine the condition of the underlying timber structure. The biggest surprise was to discover that there is a layer of horsehair insulation under the church roof slates. Unfortunately it does not do a very good job of keeping the church warm! The team were also able to make a further examination of parts of the spire structure and now better understand its condition and construction. Detailed specifications for repairs have been prepared and the first submission made to the Diocese for approval for the repair works. For a grade 1 listed building we cannot just engage a contractor and get on with the work, there are several approval hurdles to jump first. One relates to the resident bats. We had a bat recorder in the spire for several weeks over the Christmas period, which we hope will have recorded their high frequency sounds. Those recording will we hope identify the particular type of bats we have in the spire which will guide what we can do and when. We have quarterly progress meetings with NLHF which we find very useful as our contact is very approachable and able to advise us on issues which arise. These meetings keep us focussed on the critical timeframes in our Development Stage and ensure that we are prepared as best we can for our Delivery application. If that is successful we expect the heritage activities and the actual repair works are likely to start in early 2027. P.S. Although not part of the spire project a brief note on the church clock. Late in 2024 it stopped several times, running for shorter and shorter periods, until it became impractical to keep restarting it. The clock specialist who recently overhauled it visited in early February, and identified one possible cause. But like all intermittent faults they are hard to pin down. Two faces are currently disconnected to see if the transmission system is at fault. It is running longer between stops, but unfortunately at the moment not continuously. Further visits will be needed.
Porlock InSpired – Re-shingling of the spire of Porlock’s St Dubricius ChurchThe Parochial Church Council of St Dubricius Church in Porlock has been awarded a £179,335 grant by The National Lottery Heritage Fund to conserve the spire and roof of St Dubricius Church, PorlockSt Dubricius Church in Porlock has received initial support* from The National Lottery Heritage Fund for the Porlock InSpired Project, it was announced recently. Made possible by National Lottery players, the main aims of the project are to repair the spire and roof, and promote heritage awareness in the community. Development funding of £179,335 has been awarded by The National Lottery Heritage Fund to help St Dubricius Church progress their plans to apply for a full National Lottery grant at a later date. There will now be two further years of planning and organising the detail of the project and related activities, culminating in a round two application to The National Lottery Heritage Fund, for funds towards the implementation of the works, which we hope will begin in earnest in 2026 or 2027 The project aims to replace the oak shingles on the iconic truncated timber framed spire, re-slate the chapel roof and one face of the main church roof possibly including the addition of solar panels, and undertake some other related conservation repairs to the building. A programme of heritage themed activities and workshops is also planned to highlight, publicise and celebrate the ancient heritage of the building and to promote and encourage some of the craft skills needed to undertake the preservation work. These are proposed to be developed to include local groups, organisations, and partners, and will be run with the help of volunteers.The current mainly stone building dates from the 13th century, and it is believed it is built on the site of earlier church buildings, which were probably entirely timber built. One of the yew trees in the churchyard is understood to be over 1000 years old so it will have seen many changes on the site over the years. The spire is one of very few oak clad, oak framed spires in the country, and even fewer are truncated. Theories abound on the reason, some more fanciful than others, but the most likely seems to be that the spire was damaged in the great storm of 1703 and it was capped off rather than re-built. Other options include angry giants, distracted builders, and lack of money. The shingles on the spire were last replaced 90 years ago, using local timber. The intent is that local timber will be used again, using local craftsmen.St Dubricius have been fund raising for the spire project for several years and donations to date have covered the majority of the cost of determining the extent of the works needed and preparing the round one application. If the round two application to The National Lottery Heritage Fund is successful this will cover most of the cost of the planned works and activities, but some further fund raising will be needed over the next few years to cover the balance.Commenting on the award, the Rector Reverend Ann said: “We’re delighted to receive this support thanks to National Lottery players. The church has been at the centre of village life for centuries and is a beacon for both visitors to the village and residents. The last re-shingling was done by village craftsmen using timber from just up the combe. We intend to replicate that as far as is practical, and also to use the project to promote the local heritage, not only of our church building, but of the wider community.” About The National Lottery Heritage Fund* National Lottery Heritage Fund grant applications over £250,000 are assessed in two rounds. Porlock InSpired has initially been granted round one development funding of £175,335 by The National Lottery Heritage Fund, allowing it to progress with its plans. Detailed proposals are then considered by The National Lottery Heritage Fund at second round, where a final decision is made on the full funding award towards the total project cost which is currently expected to be around £1.5million As the largest dedicated funder of the UK’s heritage, The National Lottery Heritage Fund’s vision is for heritage to be valued, cared for and sustained for everyone, now and in the future as set out in our strategic plan, Heritage 2033. Over the next ten years, the Heritage Fund aims to invest £3.6billion raised for good causes by National Lottery players to bring about benefits for people, places and the natural environment. The Heritage Fund helps protect, transform and share the things from the past that people care about, from popular museums and historic places, our natural environment and fragile species, to the languages and cultural traditions that celebrate who we are. The Heritage Fund is passionate about heritage and committed to driving innovation and collaboration to make a positive difference to people’s lives today, while leaving a lasting legacy for future generations to enjoy. Follow @HeritageFundUK on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram and use #NationalLotteryHeritageFund www.heritagefund.org.uk.
