Winter Update from St Clement Danes Steeple Project

We are pleased to share recent progress on the essential works at St Clement Danes Church - Steeple Dismantling and Rebuilding Programme. The last few months have progressed nicely with several exciting developments onsite. With the scaffolding complete, the USL team were able to carry out comprehensive site surveys and dimensional checks, prior to the dismantling of the spire masonry. This access allowed the team the opportunity to survey the condition of the bell tower in collaboration with the client’s design team to identify any future repairs which may be required.

As a result of the survey activities, mortar sampling and testing, the project leads visited Lovells' processing facility at Purbeck to review samples of Portland Stone- Broadcroft Whitbed. This stone will be used as part of the rebuilding programme. The restoration team are currently undertaking cleaning of the interior stonework by a combination of TORC cleaning system and DOFF steam cleaning. These methods of cleaning are environmentally friendly for facade cleaning, removing mould, grime, and carbon build-up from the heritage fabric in a controlled and sympathetic manner, whilst conserving the masonry substrate. These cleaning works are scheduled to be completed before Christmas.

In preparation for off-site work, the steeple is now being carefully dismantled and removed, stone by stone. As part of this dismantling stage, the team removed the weathervane, which will be refurbished and re-gilded, and will be returned to the site following the restoration process. USL would like to extend our appreciation to everyone for your continued support and involvement in this restoration project. We look forward to a successful 2025 and the continued progress at St Clement Danes.

Use this link to download a copy of the Winter Newsletter.