Beachamwell: 11th Century church gets new roof after fire

Work to recreate the roof of a 1,000-year-old church has begun after the building was left in ruins by a fire.

St Mary's in Beachamwell, near Swaffham, Norfolk, was gutted when a spark from welding repairs landed on its thatched roof in February 2022.

The gable end has now been repaired and 32 oak roof trusses are being lifted into place by a large crane.

It will then be re-thatched - and is expected to be fully weatherproof by Christmas.

When the fire took hold, the church had been just days away from re-opening after a two-year closure, caused by the theft of lead from the roof in 2019.

Work to install the new oak trusses - each of which weighs about half a tonne (500kg) - will take two to three days.

The Rev Dr Ian Mack, who is the minister at the church, said: "By the end of three days all the trusses will be in, and it will look quite different.

"Then the work will begin with the thatching and the roof will be on before Christmas, which will be a great joy for me and for the local community."

All the woodwork in the church was destroyed by the fire, including the beams and the Jacobean pews and furniture.

But medieval graffiti in the plasterwork left by the masons who built the church has survived, although it is not as clearly visible as it was.

Peter Berendt, the churchwarden at Beachamwell, said the restoration of the church was important to the whole village.

He described the installation of the new beams as "an event of some significance as it is almost unique - the re-roofing of a 1,000-year-old church as it was, when built".

"It's taken us 14 months to get to this point," he said.

"The thing is that up until this time we have had effectively a fire ruin in the middle of the village.

"This means we will now have a church in the middle of the village, albeit the interior has yet to be repaired."

The restoration plans mean that, in the future, St Mary's will have disabled access and a ground plan to make it suitable for events and concerts, to complement the use of the village hall, he said.

Mr Berendt also said they were restoring the church for its next 1,000 years, when the fire will be an event in its long history.

"For me, personally, it is of massive importance - I was married in the church, my children were christened in the church, and it's the centre of the village."

The 11th Century building, mentioned in the Domesday Book, had been fully insured by the church's fundraising group.

Historic England placed the Grade I listed St Mary's on its at risk register following the fire and had been providing project advice.

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