Of
the ten chest tombs at St Andrew’s, nine were erected in the 18th or 19th
centuries whilst the remaining one appears to be Victorian. All the
earlier tombs are listed grade II under the Planning (Listed Buildings and
Conservation Areas) Act 1990.
Several of these memorials have partially subsided and/or have been subject
to weathering of the stone such as to require major repair.
Being listed these were eligible for financial contributions under the Devon
County Council's Blackdown Hills Buildings at Risk Grant Aids Scheme and
grant aid towards the cost of repair was also offered by the Council For The
Care of Churches and Uffculme Environmental Ltd. Having obtained a
faculty from the diocese of Exeter and Listed Building Consent, the contract
for carrying out repairs on two of the most severely damaged tombs was
placed with Roderic Baillie-Grohman, trading as R.B. Co. Stone., of Thorney,
Nr. Langport, Somerset. (Tel: 01458 252701). The repairs were completed
during May 2005.
The lid or capping
stone of Tomb 1 was in a very poor state, having broken into six pieces.
Earlier attempts to effect a repair using steel connecting bars had
failed.
A substantial
section of the stone wall on the south side of the tomb was missing.
Furthermore a large flake had broken away from the north wall rendering
it very fragile.
The pieces of the
lid were carefully removed and since the tomb had subsided it was
necessary to excavate it before the walls could be taken apart.
Excavation
revealed that it had been constructed on a plinth which was also removed.
and a new concrete
base was laid.
Following
replacement of the plinth
and the
re-erection of the walls, the cavity was filled with columns of bricks
to give support to the lid
and the repairs
reinforced with stainless-steel dowels.
This done, the lid
was replaced and the parts resin bonded together.
Following which layers of mortar were laid over the repair to give extra
protection.
A
section of ham stone was inserted into the south wall to enclose the cavity
once more.
A similar procedure was adopted with the
second tomb, (Tomb 7), although in this case since the lid was intact it
was necessary to erect scaffolding in order to remove it before
disassembling the structure. Excavation revealed an earlier repair.
Again a new concrete
base was laid and the newly excavated plinth placed upon it. The
tomb was reconstructed with a brick infill, in this case no steel rods
enforcement being required since the lid was sound.
The stone infill which had been used in
the earlier repair of the south wall was replaced with the addition of
suitable material.
With
the completion of this work the appearance of the churchyard has been
enhanced.
