Winter 2010: Update re the repair works

The restoration of Bethesda in three phases of work – why this approach was adopted, what has been completed so far and the next steps.

HCT took on responsibility for the Bethesda Methodist Chapel in 2002, after previous schemes to restore the building had proved unsuccessful. 

HCT engaged  the Lichfield based firm of architects, Brownhill Hayward Brown,  to produce an outline restoration scheme, with costings. The total estimated project cost was £2.5m and HCT decided to tackle the restoration project in three distinct phases. 

This has made it a more manageable task for fundraising and for undertaking the repairs.  In addition it has enabled HCT to step in quickly to make the building wind and weather proof and stop further deterioration. 

The Heritage Lottery Fund, English Heritage and a range of other grant giving trusts and private individuals have provided grants and donations and the Friends of Bethesda have also raised £17,000.

The first phase of repairs were completed in September 2007 at a cost of nearly £900,000.  This included:-
Re-slating the roof and associated repair of timber roof structure and all high level masonry repairs.  Repair of drainage and renewal of all rainwater goods. Eradication  of dry rot, replacement of timber window lintels. Full repair of front elevation, including rebuilding of colonnade roof structure, repair of windows, re-instatement of historic colour scheme and finishes.  Installation of protective plastic screens on windows.  
The Phase I repairs were funded by English Heritage, Heritage Lottery Fund, North Staffordshire Regeneration Zone and Stoke City Council and other fundraising by HCT.

HCT’s architects have now put together a second phase package of works. This second phase of works is designed to complete all complete all external and internal structural repairs.  Key tasks are:-

• Internal structural repairs including repair of the famous continuous oval tiered gallery.
• Floor and pew repairs.
• The construction of a new ceiling to the historic pattern.
• The restoration of the celebrated octagonal mahogany pulpit, together with its double flight of steps and circular communion rail.
• The restoration of the suite of stained glass windows and all other windows.
• Re-pointing and the completion of all other external repairs.
• The introduction of a suitable historic organ to replace Bethesda’s irredeemably vandalised 19th-century organ.
• Reinstatement of external railings and gates along the front elevation.

The organ repair work is being undertaken by Bishop and Son of Ipswich.

The phase II repairs are expected to cost around £613,000. In addition part of the phase II funding bid includes provision for the costs of staging a four month exhibition in the Potteries Museum and Art Gallery in 2010.

Fund-raising is now underway and grant applications will be made to a wide range of national and local grant giving bodies, including the Heritage Lottery Fund, English Heritage etc. The local Friends of Bethesda Group have already raised over £15,000 to help repair the pulpit.

Phase III – the final phase

Once the fundraising for phase II is completed and the works are underway, HCT will start to conclude proposals for phase III, which will be the final phase of repairs.  Phase III will include design and installation of all essential mechanical and electrical (M&E) services and other facilities that will be required in a major public building such as this. This will include provision of heating, lighting, and other suitable modern services and completion of plaster repairs and redecoration etc. Phase III will complete the repair of the interior, ie re-instatement of the ceiling and plaster wall finishes etc that need to be undertaken in conjunction with the installation of M&E services.

 

Phase I repairs – completed September 2007

The first phase of repairs were completed in September 2007 at a cost of nearly £900,000.  The works included:-

Re-slating the roof and associated repair of timber roof structure and all high level masonry repairs.
Full repair of front elevation, including rebuilding of colonnade roof structure, repair of windows, re-instatement of historic colour scheme and finishes. 
Repair of drainage and renewal of all rainwater goods.
Eradication  of dry rot, replacement of timber window lintels.
Installation of protective plastic screens on windows. 

The Phase I repairs were funded by English Heritage, Heritage Lottery Fund, North Staffordshire Regeneration Zone and Stoke City Council and other fundraising by HCT.

Fundraising for Phase II repairs

HCT’s architects have now put together a second phase package of works. This second phase of works is designed to complete all complete all external and internal structural repairs.  Key tasks are:-

i)   All necessary repairs of all side and rear elevation windows,       
      including repair of four stained glass windows and the
      re-instatement of the stained glass window depicting the “Light of  
      the World”, which was taken into protective storage in the Potteries
      Museum and Art Gallery after the chapel closed.

ii)   Structural repair of the galleries which had suffered following an
       outbreak of dry rot.

iii)  Repair of the pulpit and the organ.

 iv)  Re-instatement of external decorative railings.

In addition part of the phase II funding bid includes provision for the costs of staging a four month exhibition in the Potteries Museum and Art Gallery in 2010.

The second phase of works is estimated to cost approximately £680,000.  Fundraising is now underway and grant applications have been made to a wide range of national and local grant giving bodies, including the Heritage Lottery Fund, English Heritage etc.
English Heritage have offered a £200,000 grant towards the repair costs and the Heritage Lottery Fund have recently awarded a grant of £374,400 towards The local Friends of Bethesda Group have already raised over £12,000 to help repair the pulpit. Other grants and pledges have been received leaving a funding shortfall of approximately £70,000.
Our architect is now concluding the details of the specification and schedule of works and we hope to be in a position to seek tenders for the work in early 2010.

During Phase 1, we provided progress reports and photos here as each important job was completed.

(Click on any photo of the building on this page for a larger version; some photos are by kind permission of Brownhill Hayward Brown Architects, Lichfield.)

October 2010: The new ceiling is being fitted as are the new walkways in the wooden roof structure. Two layers of fire retardant plasterboard are being used and this work will be completed soon. The new ceiling roses will then be fixed and before the ceiling is finished a thin layer of plaster and a coat of special white paint will complete the work.

11 April 2007: During the first 3 months of this year, there have been major improvements to both exterior and interior as Phase 1 nears its end. The first pair of pictures below, taken in mid-March, show the newly reslated roof and repaired brickwork to the rear wall and chimney, and some exquisite details of the front elevation.

The next group of four shows what had been achieved by mid-February in cleaning and restoring the interior — something of a miracle to anyone who saw how derelict it was a year ago.

The first two pictures below show examples of memorial windows, which can now be fully appreciated following the removal of plywood boarding. They will be restored along with all sash windows to the rear elevations as part of Phase 2. Windows are currently protected in situ using polycarbonate sheeting as a temporary measure, allowing natural daylight into the building. The third picture is of a sash window taken from the frontage. It has been restored by a specialist glazier, releaded and glazed using original glass augmented with new matching materials. It is one of many currently being reinstalled.

January 2007: Bethesda is to have its badly vandalised, drastically altered and water-damaged organ of 1864 replaced by another Kirtland and Jardine organ, which the Historic Chapels Trust (HCT) is rescuing from St Ignatius Church, Ordsall, Salford. St Ignatius has been made redundant and sold to new owners who have no use for its splendid instrument. A careful check of its measurements shows that it will be a perfect fit for the space behind the handsome organ case in Bethesda.

The organ turns out not to have been originally installed at St Ignatius, but to have been built for St Paul, Kersal, in 1853. St Ignatius has never had money, and the organ suffered negligible alterations – it has only lost a little of its typical brilliance of the 1850s through the closing-up of some pipe footholes when it was placed in its chamber at St Ignatius in 1906. Its layout suggests that the space it occupied at Kersal would not have been much different. It has no case apart from a dreary oak front of 1906, hardly worth retaining.

In its annual report for 1995, the Advisory Board for Redundant Churches strongly recommended that the organ be found another home. Dr Michael Sayer, an organ expert and author, remembers it well from the days of his researches and considers it to be outstanding. It should be superb for accompanying orchestral and solo recitals.

HCT has now established that the Heritage Lottery Fund would be willing in principle to consider the dismantling, transport and re-erection of the organ as a grant-worthy project. An appeal has been launched for funds towards its reinstatement, and also for the repair of the damaged mahogany pulpit and the cast-iron railings that once faced Albion Street.

(The information above is taken from a recent Historic Chapels Trust Newsletter.)

8 November 2006: The re-slating of the roof was nearing completion and high-level repairs to defective brickwork were complete. New window lintels were replacing those timber ones that had rotted. The defective render on the front elevation had been removed, and brickwork repairs were under way.

15 September 2006: The roof timbers and other load-bearing structures were being replaced, repaired and/or strengthened, as you can see below. The first three photos show a reinforced steel joist (RSJ) being moved into the roof space, positioned, and secured in place. The final picture shows why reinforcing the timbers was a good idea!

 

1 August 2006:

• The building was fully scaffolded, externally and internally.
• All the old roof slates were removed, enabling builders to repair some of the roof timbers.
• The high-level brickwork was being repaired and the chimneys re-pointed.
• Pigeon guano and the 1970s suspended ceiling have gone from inside the building.

 

21 June 2006: Scaffolding had gone up and restoration work was fully under way.

15 May 2006: work at last began on Phase 1 of Bethesda's renaissance. The Director of the Historic Chapels Trust said:-

I am overjoyed that at last work has started on undertaking the repairs to Bethesda and look forward to seeking out other sources of funding to help us complete this worthy project and finish revitalising this wonderful building. I encourage anyone who wants to help contribute to the project to contact HCT.

I am immensely grateful to the Heritage Lottery Fund, to English Heritage and to everyone one else who has helped fund this first phase of works.

Please do your bit for Bethesda and ensure its survival for everyone to enjoy!

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