Nick and Jeremy Kendall with the newly repaired Lych gates - with grateful thanks to them both.
In his report on the Church in September 2017, the Church Architect Jon Steel commented on the state of the Lych gates and said that they should have the old paint removed and the wood should be treated with linseed oil and beeswax to help preservation and the cracks left as they were.
In September 2019 Jeremy Kendall said that he knew someone with expertise in wood working who was prepared to treat the gates.
In October the gates were taken away to be treated. When the paint was stripped off the gates were seen to be in avery poor state withh many of the rails eaten away and paper thin. In addition, in previous repairs plastic fillers had been used. Following discussions it was decided that the gates should be restored using as much of the old timber as possible and oak used to replace where necessary.
In December the first gate was brought back to the Church for a trial fitting and it was found that the original pivot points were too worn to allow the gate to open properly. New plates were ordered from a blacksmith to mount both of the gates.
On the 31st January the gates were returned to the Church and hung. The process was relatively easy as the restorer had made an excellent job of restoration even though there was no real template available from the original gates.
All Saints' has cause to be very grateful to Nick Kendall for his skill and the time he has spent on what was envisaged as a small cleaning and preservation job.
Chips Browning
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