King's College Chapel Cambridge undergoes roof repairs

A city's landmark 15th Century building will be shrouded in scaffolding for repairs and could have solar panels fitted in the future.

The 150-year-old lead roof of Cambridge University's King's College Chapel will be stripped off, melted down and reused over the next few months.

The new roof could support discrete solar panels, if further plans were passed.

Councillor Katie Thornburrow called the work a "great example" of recycling.

The Labour councillor, who has responsibility for planning on Cambridge City Council, said the lead on the south-facing side of the roof was particularly weather-beaten.

For several weeks, scaffolding has been going up around the building, which itself dates back to 1446 and hosts annual Christmas Eve and Easter carol and hymn services which are televised by the BBC.

"The whole of the building is going to be covered... they need to ensure this iconic building is kept dry and safe while they do this work," Ms Thornburrow said.

"It's a very high grade, thick lead and the details will be improved so it will weather better.

"All the colleges are looking very seriously at how to get to net zero and this is a very big south-facing roof... so one of the ideas they're considering is very discrete [solar] panels on both sides of the roof."

However, Ms Thornburrow added that any such scheme would need approval from several organisations, including English Heritage, before being installed.

Once the lead is removed, the roof timbers will be inspected to also ensure they are in good condition.

Ms Thornburrow said the process was being recorded to aid future schemes across Cambridge.

"It's really fascinating and I'm glad it's going to be documented, so people can see the whole process," she said.

"There are a lot of historic buildings in Cambridge and we need to learn from every single project what can be done and how things can be improved."

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