Cracks & Cobwebs!

You may have noticed large cracks extending up the full height of the clerestory walls at the West End and around the keystone of the west-most clerestory window on the south side. These cracks have now been carefully re-pointed by SSHC (our contractors) with a flexible, colour-matched lime mortar. Re-pointing is particularly important because if cracks are left open, bits of stone and grit fall into them and prevent their ever closing. As the building moves, the cracks can then only get wider. Use of a flexible mortar ‘seals’ the crack while still allowing some movement.

To do this re-pointing, a ‘cherry-picker’ was used to reach to the top of the windows. While the machine was in the building, the contractor used it to reach the other nave windows and vacuum the dust and cobwebs from the stone ledges and saddle bars as the photos illustrate.

We are grateful to our contractors for taking such expert care in all they are doing both inside and out.

Howard Wells