VILLAGERS in Askrigg, within the Yorkshire Dales, have been assured that the limewash rendering of the clock tower of St Oswald’s will likely be honey-coloured, not the white “eyesore” that campaigners against the work say that it’ll be.
The Grade I listed church has featured within the TV series All Creatures Great and Small, where it’s portrayed because the parish church of the fictional village of Darrowby.
‘It’s good to get the entire community involved’
Its orientation in Upper Wensleydale exposes it to driving rain, which has penetrated into the bell-chamber. Lime pointing alone won’t solve the issue: English Heritage tests on damp towers over the past 20 years have shown that water penetration continues after two days of continuous rain.
The need arose ten years ago, and the project has been energetic for five. A public consultation in September 2019 brought no objections, and the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority (YDNPA) gave planning permission to render and limewash the tower against further weathering: a process that repels water, but enables the constructing to breathe.
It concluded: “The evidence from the church, from the limited records available, from other historic records and, not directly, from the outcomes of the English Heritage research, all support the proposal as being a smart, practical and historically justifiable approach to looking for to scale back the results of weathering on the tower at Saint Oswald’s.
“The church and tower have provided a spotlight within the Dales for a whole bunch of years. . . It is hoped that the continued and current increased deal with the constructing, to repair and improve the material, will help to keep up the communal value for a few years to return.
“The render will quickly weather all the way down to a varied tone and color to mix with the present stonework. . . The proposal will seek to cause the minimum change in appearance, consistent with using lime materials.”
A white test-patch applied in October 2022 led to protests from villagers, and an internet petition that gathered greater than 350 signatures. The proposal was deemed “an absolute eyesore”, completely out of keeping with the remaining of the village, and likened to “placing a lighthouse in the midst of the Dales” (News, 4 November 2022).
The Vicar of Upper Wensleydale, the Revd David Clark, suggested on the time that campaigners’ fears were misplaced, as the present patches didn’t represent the potential color, but purely the feel of the finish. He warned of great consequences of doing nothing to stop the damp.
Masons have now begun the work, which has reactivated campaigners’ protests. A press release from the diocese of Leeds on Monday reiterated, “Information regarding the historic development of this specific church was taken into consideration, specifically the physical and documentary evidence suggesting that the tower would have been rendered prior to the nineteenth century.
“The limewash won’t be white but fairly a soft honey color, in line with the newly cleaned masonry of the constructing.”
Mr Clark told Church Times on Tuesday: “Our intention has all the time been to maintain the village involved with the progress of ideas.
“To this end, we’ve got given progress updates within the local paper and newsletters, on social media, and at annual meetings and public meetings. The latest was in May, to listen to and ask questions of our team of skilled advisers, architect, diocese, National Park, Historic England, and co-author of the damp-towers report.
“We have repeated repeatedly that it’ll not be finished in white, although the entire constructing was once. I asked members of the parish council to satisfy with me after the last public meeting to debate the ultimate color alternative.
“We were strongly advised against grey, as this might appear to be the constructing has been covered in cement; we’ve chosen a honey-type hue within the hope that this may complement the unique color of the stone that might be cleaned and visual across the windows.
“We understand that that is an emotional issue, and I did my best to speak this in our last meeting. Change is all the time a challenge — we’ve grown accustomed to the tower looking because it does for the last 170 years, but for the previous 430 years it didn’t, and was rendered. . . Our forefathers knew what they were doing.
“We proceed to receive support from locals who understand that something significant have to be done to save lots of and preserve the tower, and who, after hearing the story, are understanding why this particular intervention is being beneficial as the most effective solution.
“It is our dearest wish that we are able to ‘own’ this project as a community, and work on keeping this historic landmark in a condition that may survive for an additional 600 years. The situation within the tower and the principal constructing has turn into very difficult and unhealthy, and is affecting our worship and our ministry.
“We proceed to be enormously grateful to everyone who has helped us get to this stage and for his or her financial support. ‘To God be the glory.’”
