News

April 2008

Mike Gammon and his Workforce have almost finished restoring the Bell-Tower. They have been working hard since mid-November,through some extremely rough weather. The Bell-Tower is now looking very smart indeed and shortly the Bell will be re-hung so that it can be rung again at the start of Services. This will then mark the completition of the First Stage of the Restoration of St Michael's Church.

The second stage mainly involves making repairs and improvements to the inside of the Church and the Porch.

Details of the work required

• Repairs to the Gable of the Porch
• Repairs to the suspended timber floors in the Nave
• Repairs to solid floors
• Window repairs
• Repairs to the internal plaster-work and re-decoration of walls / ceiling in the Nave, Chancel and Porch

The estimated cost of the Second Stage is £50,000

January2008

In May last year Alison Owen resigned as Chair of the FOCC (although she will continue to serve on the Committee) and on behalf of the FOCC we would like to express our grateful thanks for all her hard work during the last two years. Norma Olds has been elected in her place.

On the financial front we are pleased to report that during the last twelve months fundraising events, donations from organizations and individuals and the support of the friends of Cascob Church have raised well over £3,500

The Heritage Lottery Fund has now offered a substantial grant towards the restoration and the Church in Wales has indicated that it will also provide some support to the project. However, as anticipated there will be a shortfall between what we have been offered and what we will require to complete the external restoration, so fundraising efforts will continue this year.

The Committee would again like to thank our treasurer Anthony Dobbs for his ingenuity and hard work in applying for grants, negotiating with the Inland Revenue and dealing with architects, archeologists, bat people and builders.

The builders moved onto the site in mid November via a new access behind the church and are now making good progress. A drainage system is now in place to take the run off water from the church roof away from the walls and foundations of the church. Interestingly it was found that the original church tower was both square and larger than the present tower, Even more intriguing was the discovery of the stone base of a "preachers" cross deliberately buried by the East wall of the church. There is no trace of the cross that would have stood on this base and the Hereford archeologist considers it likely that this would have been destroyed or buried elsewhere in the churchyard at the time of the Reformation.

The builders are now beginning the restoration of the bell tower and it is hoped that this will be completed by the Spring. The bell itself is in storage and when re-hung it will fitted with a striking mechanism rather than a dapper to reduce wear and tear.