Excavation, Education, and Excitement

By Natalie Thomas

Over the last two weeks there has been a lot of new exciting changes within the Church, as part of our ongoing restoration efforts. The site looks very different to our last update and in this blog, we are very excited to share these recent updates with you!

The base of the font is being carefully prepared in the new location

Historical preservation

The last restoration blog discussed creating room for a café by relocating the font. This week marks an important milestone as the last two stones are being laid, preparing the base of the font, so it can be carefully reassembled and reinstalled next week. Meanwhile, the area where the font originally stood is undergoing archaeological examination before work begins on the cafe’s base. Every wheelbarrow of excavated soil is being hand-checked for remains and artifacts. We have had many fascinating discoveries so far including medieval pottery and oyster shells. The oyster shells offer an intriguing glimpse into the lives of the original builders of the Church centuries before us. As oysters were in abundance in this period, the workers used to bring these in for lunch and discard the shells as they worked. In keeping with our commitment to respectful preservation, any fragments of human remains discovered during excavation are being collected and will be reburied within the Church grounds under the supervision of our rector.

Every wheelbarrow of soil is carefully sifted for artefacts

Craftsmanship and Community

The adaptation of our pews to create a community learning space is also nearly finished with the pews having been put back in. The final job to be completed on their adaptation is underway with the end panels being installed. St Mary’s currently have four carpentry/joinery students from Newark College completing their practical placement hours on our building site. One of these is Edward, a level two carpentry student, who has been working today on the installation of the end panels under careful guidance from our site team. As part of their placement, they are also gaining valuable experience learning how to use machinery and tools on a site. These skills are being used in many aspects of our building work such as making trestles for the scaffolding. They are also involved in the careful removal of nails from the salvaged wood and old pews so it can be stored and repurposed for later restoration projects. Giving the challenge of sourcing timber that matches the original church aesthetic, this sustainable approach is practical and historically considerate.

The pews are carefully adapted to accommodate the new community space and new café

Looking Ahead

Thank you to the excellent work from our site team and talented students over the last couple weeks in making these developments possible. We look forward to sharing with you as our font gets put in place, as well as other developments to our restoration project. Stay tuned as we continue to update you with more exciting news!