BUILDING WORK RESTARTED at BRESSINGHAM CHURCH – 11 SEPTEMBER 2017
| Keith and fellow builders from G F Atthowe returned to Bressingham Church after a one month hiatus as work on the roof had to wait until the bat breeding season was over. All the nave scaffolding is now in place and work on relaying lead roofs is underway.The builders first had to remove all the old lead which was sent away for recasting. There are records of previous lead repairs, so the builders were asked to look out for date marks from previous lead work. Although date plaques were not found, stonemason Steve found two small matchboxes resting on a soffit on the southwest corner of the nave roof close to the tower. Inside one of the delicate matchboxes the date “1910” and the name “N (?) Knott” can just be discerned. We know from Churchwarden Accounts that the lead roof was last replaced in 1910 by local builders Hoggs. It would be interesting to find out whether Hoggs (now R&J Hoggs) have any records about an employee named Knott. The matchboxes provide a poignant sense of the individual workmen who worked on the church just a few years before the outbreak of WWI – and they also connect two sets of skilled craftsmen more than a century apart. |