- Church Street
- Woodnesborough
- Sandwich
- Kent
- CT13 0NW
Tower Appeal
You can give a donation to the Tower Appeal by sending a cheque made out to Woodnesborough PCC and marked On the back Tower Appeal send to
The Tower Appeal
The Vicarage
The Street
Woodnesborough
Sandwich
Kent
CT13 0NQ
Gift Aid Form: please print off a gift Aid form if you would like us to claim tax off this donation. Complete the form and enclose it with your donation
Thank you
The Tower Appeal was launched in March 2010 to raise £70,000 to cover the cost of repairs brought to light by the recent quinquennial report. Although much of the repairs are to the Tower, other parts of the church have also been found to need renovating.
Cupola
This is the structure on top of the tower and is timber clad. It is exposed to the elements and as a consequence of this, some of the slats have become rotton around the air vents. The remaining cladding needs to be sanded down and painted with timber preservative.
The Balustrade
As can be seen in the photograph this needs to be replaced and the plan is to remove and scrap the present structure. Then a re-enforced armature will be designed and contructed onto which a new ballustrade can be mounted. This could either be timber or Caen stone and at present costing are being sort for both.
The section of gutter a the northwest corner of the tower also needs some attention. It has collapsed allowing water to flow down to the foundations,the very thing it is there to prevent. Also the extenal surfaces of the tower top have two deep fissures which will need further investigated once the scaffolding has been erected,it can decided what is the best way of tackling the problem.
The Flag pole also needs replacing with a telescopic design which would be easier and safer for raising the flag.
The West Door
The frames and arch of the west door's external stonework have been seriously eroded by the elements and also it has been subjected to unsympathetic repairs in the past. It has therefore been proposed to cut out the eroded stones, any sound stones and all cement/concrete fill and replace it with new fabricated Caen stone.
The Tower room
Some years ago a spiral staircase was built to give easier access to this room which is used by the "Travellers" (11-14year olds) every service where they can meet for Fellowship and Worship.This is very cold in winter. The plan is to make it much more comfortable and attractive by installing a radiator which will work off the present heating system and design and fabricate a secondary double glazed system for the west facing window. It will also be necessary to rake out the cemant mortar around the window and replace it and fill any cracks with horsehair lime cement mortar and finally make good the decorative finish.
Internal work
The Sedilia
This a beautiful feature in our church and parts of it are very old. Unfortunately in the 1950's repairs were carried out which were to a questionable quality and as a result cracks have developed in the structure. The will have to
be removed, the cracks refilled with horsehail/lime mortar and finally the decorative damage made good.
Next to the sedilia is the Thomas Blechden Wall Monument. This Largely alabaster monument has a large crack along its base caused by rusting and expansion of the iron fittings which are used to hold it to the wall. 
Whilst this is not dangerous it would be sensible to solve the problem which is causing the cracking. To do this, it is necessary to remove the Monument from the wall, remove the iron fittings and fabricate new ones from stainless steel and then re instate the monument.
The Font
The font suffered staining from water leakage from the roof as a result of the lead theft from the roof. It is hoped that this will be covered by insurance.
The Lavatory
This needs replacing as it is a composting toilet which is not pleasant to use and is not friendly to wheelchair users. There are now better alternative systems available.
It is therefore proposed to seal off the pit and replace it with a mascerating lavatory.
The Upper Room in the Tower
Some years ago a spiral staircase was built to give easier access to this room which is used by the "Travellers" (11-14year olds) every service where they can meet for Fellowship and Worship. This is very cold in winter and the plan is to extend the heating system so there is a radiator in there and the window also needs to be repaired and secondary double glazing to be fitted. This should make this room much more cosy in winter and prevent further decay.
These repairs are vital to keep the church in good condition. The church has to raise £70,000. Our aim is to raise the money with a series of social activities which are both fun and appeal to everyone. So far we had a St Georges Day Dinner Village Fete, in conjuction with the Gardeners club an Village Open Gardens, to name but a few. Parishonners have been very generous with their donations and we hope to secure some grants but as yet we have not reached our target.