Inspections in 2015 and 2021 highlighted the deterioration of the stone tiles on the roof. But perhaps this is not surprising as the last time it was reroofed was in the 1860s by the Victorians. The National Lottery asked us to phase the reroofing so that, in this project, we only reroof the east end of the building with the west end left for a further phase of work.

The roof structure is, thankfully, sound but the stone tiles have extensive problems: delamination (when they split and crack), slipping, and extensive moss growth. Plants are growing in high level masonry and, as the staining in the Cathedral shows, they are leaking badly. In addition, lead parapet gutters (which, at the moment, are not easily accessible for maintenance) are regularly blocked. Some of these issues are shown in the composite image below.

The plans (below) show the three stages of the initial reroofing, starting with the presbytery, then the north transept and Havard Chapel, then the south transept. You can see what is proposed, including the installation of a person-safe system, meaning future maintenance will be much easier. The National Lottery require us to submit a detailed Maintenance Plan for after the project finishes. The drawing below the plans shows the detailed survey of the masonry (here, the north transept), highlighting the repairs to be undertaken. If you click on any of the plans, they open in larger resolution.