Historic Building Watching Brief St Marys Church Northchurch

Between January and March 2019 a Historic Building Watching brief was carried out at St Mary's Church, Northchurch to fulfil a planning condition for repair works to the nave and north aisle roofs. The north aisle was constructed in 1882 and the leadwork displayed two methods of joining the lead sheets above the north-south aligned softwood boards; by way of a timber batten and by a hollow roll. The nave roof was of a different construction, having diagonally placed sarking boards beneath very thin lead sheets that were all joined using timber battens. Graffiti discovered on the boards gave the date of this roof as September 1903 and the names of the men working on it for Matthews Builders and Undertakers of Castle Street, Berkhamsted. Modern repairs were evident in the screeding to the valley gutters and the use of blockwork in the north wall of the north aisle. No other features of note were observed.