Roofing Repairs Project

Just before Christmas 2025 we saw drips of water appearing on the floor near the font.  Our Churchwardens placed a bucket under the drips, and it soon became obvious that there was an urgent problem.  Glenn Stockton used his contacts to find roofers, who put up some scafolding and identified damaged flashing near the tower and broken slate tiles.  The roofers quickly mended the flashing, and sourced the necessary Welsh slate tiles which they installed shortly after Christmas.  We are very grateful for their prompt action.  Funds were found for this essential work, but our emergency reserves are now depleted.  Any donations will be very gratefully recieved.

Energy Saving Actions

The new heating boiler installed in 2025 continued to be carefully monitored throughout the winter with fine tuning of adjustments for timing and temperature being made using the controls.  Additional physical support was installed for the metering equipment.  

In 2026, Church door closures were fitted to minimise loss of energy, as people were leaving doors open, so heat escaped. 

LED lights have now been fitted throughout the Church, to replace the previous higher energy lighting fittings.  The choir vestry was the last piece in what has been a lengthy activity. 

Flooring Maintenance

When St Wilfrid's Church was built in 1120 the flooring was simply flattened earth, probably spread with rushes from the river Mersey or nearby ponds. From time to time the old rushes would be brushed out, and fresh ones laid for people to walk and stand on.  This simple arrangement was what was expected in humble places of worship throughout the middle ages. Well-funded monasteries and priories like the nearby Norton Priory crafted beautifully coloured tiles in their own workshops. Norton Priory today exhibits some great examples of tiling.

In 1874 St Wilfrid's had a major upgrade.  A wooden framework was erected across the whole floor area to create a platform about a foot above the beaten earth.  Over much of the Nave, pine floorboards were laid across the framework, and 3 tiled aisles were created running east to west.  The area from the south porch to the north door was tiled with simple tiles, whilst by the choir stalls and around the altar, were tiled with more elaborate two colour tiles, similar to those found at Norton Priory.  Around 50 years later, the aisles in the nave and through the centre of the choir stalls were carpeted. 

But in 2025 the aisle carpet seemed lumpy.  Children could see their toy cars moving up and down as they rolled them along the aisles. When we took up the carpet to investigate, we were shocked to see that the limestone cement, that had been used about 150 years ago to support the tiles, had crumbled and cracked. Many of the tiles simply lifted off.  Gaping holes could be seen into the void below the beams of the wooden framework. We carefully examined the tiled areas throughout the church, finding cracked and uneven patches in a number of areas. We took advice from our Church Architect, who told us it was not unusual for this type of subfloor cement to fail.  He had checked in his routine 2020 regular 5 year inspection, and it had not been too bad, but urgent action was recommended.

We applied for financial support to the National Churches Trust who generously offered us a £3,000 grant with a further £6,000 from the Wolfson Foundation. They were aware of the excellent care of our church taken, particularly by our Churchwarden team backed by our Treasurer, and also by our many volunteers.  We have been Finalists for 2 years running for the Naylor Award for Excellence in Church Maintenance.  St Wilfrid's has needed to match the grant funding, but the work was be done. It had to be done.

Our Project team were delighted to have completed the bulk of the most urgent work in good time before our busy Christmas programme of events.  Early in 2026 they were busy again on the tiles near the font and the carpet for the central aisle.

Thank you to National Churches Trust and to the Wolfson Foundation for your very timely help with our flooring problem.