St Paul’s Church

Client: St Paul’s Church PCC

Location: Seacombe, Wirral

Budget: £610,000 to date

Status: Ongoing

The top five metres of the Spire to St Paul’s Church, Seacombe, on the Mersey river front was removed over forty years ago when embedded ironwork caused sere cracking in the uppermost stonework.  Apprentices from the nearby Camell Laird shipyard fabricated a stylised ‘crown of thorns’ to mount on a concrete capping.  However, the corrosion of the embedded ironwork further down the Spire continued unabated and resulted in several major falls of masonry, including the loss of one Pinnacle.

Appointed to conduct a detailed appraisal of the Spire and during inspection one of the remaining Pinnacles was found to be rocking in the wind and emergency action was taken to stabilise it.

Following a substantial grant from English Heritage in 2011, FPL has been engaged upon the detailed specification of the dismantling of the whole Spire to broach level and reconstruction using all original materials, photographed, marked and recorded; supplemented with new to complete the original design.

Internally a new stainless steel structure has been designed to enable the Spire to be post-tensioned in a traditional format with a new specialist-fabricated internal ‘tree and tension rod’ together with new clamps and ties to anchor and restrain the rebuilt masonry.  Work was completed in August 2013.

FPL are now currently working with St Paul’s Church to continue the wider restoration and repairs.

• Categories: Churches, Listed Buildings and Conservation