Grade 1 Listed Church Repair Project

This Grade 1 listed church had a history of cracks documented for 400 years. The causes were thought to be roof spread and foundation movement, requiring unsightly ties across the east window and further costly underpinning. Adrian Cox Associates investigated the cracks individually, reviewed the soil conditions, and analysed the roof structure using finite element computer software. As a result the roof spread was shown to be negligible and further underpinning unnecessary. Intervention was kept to a minimum, ensuring that limited funds were used effectively.

Our involvement - An award winning heritage project using careful diagnosis of defects assisted by the latest computer analysis methods.

Award - The architect responsible, John Bailey of Thomas Ford and Partners, received the King of Prussia's Gold medal, awarded for a project of outstanding aesthetic or technical merit. John had won the award the previous year for work at St Mary's Church, Stone, with Adrian Cox Associates also as engineers.

As a result of the work at Oare, Adrian Cox Associates were appointed in 2006 to advise on cracks at St John, Swalecliffe. Most were proven to be of less significance than feared thus releasing funds for a new porch and important repairs and maintenance. English Heritage funding is now being obtained for work to conserve All Saints Westbere near Canterbury making use of similar techniques by Adrian Cox Associates.

The Montana based software house, IES, who supplied the software used by ACA to carry out roof analysis feature this project on their web site.

For another example of a software house showcasing an Adrian Cox Associates project, see Harbour Ridge.

For another award winning church project, see St Martin of Tours, Chelsfield.