OLD BUILDINGS

Manawatu Standard, Volume IV, Issue 222, 20 August 1931, Page 12

OLD BUILDINGS

REPAIRS TO FAMOUS LONDON CHURCH.

One particular object of preservation among English beauty lovers is old buildings, says a London correspondent. Some of these are not beautiful, but seldom are they ugly, and whether merely quaint and plain or undoubtedly lovely, they are symbols of the soul of England, and so English people love them. One society with Government help devotes its efforts to saving them, either from American millionaires or the ravages of time. In these days of depression the millionaires are less formidable adversaries than time and its allies, such as the death-watch beetle. The latter is one of the worst enemies of England’s old buildings. Its depredations have ruined thousands of old mansions and churches, and to repair its ravages appeals are constantly being made to the admirers of these historic structures. The latest victim of the death-watch beetle is one of the most famous of London’s churches, St. Mary-le-Bow, in Cheapside, whose Bow Bells are famous the world over. What true Londoner does not boast that he was born within sound of them, as the founder of Sydney, Governor Phillip, was? St. Mary-le-Bow is in serious danger, and must be closed for repairs. Two years ago the surveyor to the fabric stated that £15,000 would be necessary to put the building in a proper state of repair and to reinstate the bells, some of which are cracked. Even at that stage the bells had been silenced, not only because some were cracked, but because their ringing was considered inadvisable in the existing condition of the steeple, which for years has had a deflection from the upright. Although an appeal was extensively circulated, less than £3OOO has so far been received. During the execution of suclx repairs as funds allowed, fresh trouble has come to light. In the installation of cables for electricity a part of the ceiling was found to be in a dangerous state, and some of the joists were discovered to be rotten owing to damage by beetle and by water. An exhaustive inspection showed the necessity for immediate repairs, costing £3500, if the church is to he saved.

The present edifice was built by Sir Christopher Wren just after the Great Fire. It is the third upon the site, the first being a Norman church, built about 1090, of which the stone-vaulted crypt remains. The second—the medieval church—was destroyed in the fire of 1666. _ Roman bricks are still in evidence in some of the Norman work, and the tower has foundations said to rest upon a Roman causeway. It is believed that a Roman, or even earlier temple once occupied the site. The bells are 12 in number, and weigh 11 tons. The tenor bell was cast in 1669, and weighs two tons. 13cwt, and most of the others in 1762.