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Boveney
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This church is NOT open to visitors at the moment, as it has just emerged from the first phase of a major repair campaign. St Mary's Boveney, nestling on the banks of the Thames, almost within sight of Eton College but a world away within a small rather remote hamlet, is proving to be the biggest single challenge the Friends have ever faced. The History and Significance of the ChurchThe church was taken on by the Friends in June 1983, on a 999 year lease. The building is listed Grade I despite a low-key exterior. What tips it into that highest of all listing categories is the remarkable vernacular interior with 18th and 19th Century fittings, its romantic location adjacent to the Thames and its very early origins in the 12th Century. The church was built to serve the bargemen or bargees as they were called who plied their trade on the river. The quay immediately adjacent is long lost. Outside you will notice the little slivers of flint pressed into the mortar coursing lines - this is a partly decorative, partly functional technique known as galletting. The Repair Campaign We have recently completed a £200,000 contract to conserve the weather-boarded and timber-framed tower built in the fifteenth century where the degree of instability had proved alarming. English Heritage came up trumps with a 70% grant offer towards the £200,000 and others have been noticeably helpful particularly Sir John Smith and the Francis Coales Charitable Foundation. Eton College, who historically held the living of the church, were immensely generous in dedicating the proceeds of their annual 'Concert for the Choir' to the repair campaign. We would like to offer our sincere thanks to Eton College itself, to the boys of the choir and the orchestra for their wonderful performance - and to all the people who attended for their generosity and support. We are also very grateful for the sterling efforts of local people in publicising the concert on our behalf. Despite this, it has been far from easy raising the matching funding. And I'm afraid that is notthe end of the story. We still face the necessity for work to the roof at Boveney, both the covering and the timbers, whilst we've had to erect a raking shore to contain some bulging in the shell. Our architect Nicola Westbury, ably assisted by the structural engineer Clive Dawson, believes that we may be facing a further bill for all this of over £200,000. We have applied for further EH help, but an offer of grant aid for this second phase of repair is certainly not guaranteed. Will you help us? We welcome donations, large and small, which can be sent to our office at St Ann's Vestry Hall, 2 Church Entry, London EC4V 5HB. Please make all cheques payable to 'Friends of Friendless Churches'. To keep in touch with us and the repair campaign at Boveney, please consider joining the Friends. If you would like to visit the church and need details of keyholders, directions etc, please telephone our office on: 020 7236 3934. |
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Above: the newly repaired timber framed tower at the west end of the church, with new weather-boarding to the upper stage. Below, a craftsman repairing the fourteenth century timber frame beneath. Far below, the complicated structure of the bell-frame, and the church in its picturesque setting (by Christopher Dalton).
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