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Lead Theft at St. Peter's On the 9th of March 2019, thanks to some visitors to St. Peter's, our Church Warden was notified that all of the lead from both the north and south aisles of the church had been stolen. The police were called and the team at St. Peter's sprung into action. Luckily the Rector's brother-in-law, Darren Godbold, is a roofing contractor and so came straight out to try and help. Due to such a large amount of lead being stolen (we think approximately 5 tonnes) there was a large area to cover and only a short space of time to do it, with storms and heavy rain forecast.
                 

The Church Warden went into Lincoln straight away to try and get some large tarpaulins or damp proof membrane and with a fantastic response from the community in donating tarpaulins and covers, Darren and his Brother (the Rector's husband) manage to cover the roof 10 minutes before the rain started at about 12.30am. We had 3/4 of an inch overnight and so should the roof have not been covered the inside of the church would've been flooded as the downpipes from the nave run directly onto the stripped rooves. It's thought there would have been about 6 inches of water in the church if this had happened.      

Currently the church roof is fully covered, the damage has been assessed and we are awaiting an architects report and estimates on costs. The police are in the process of looking at evidence gathered from the scene. If you have any information about this crime please ring 101 quoting crime reference number 254 9th of March. Unfortunately it seems that the insurance is unlikely to cover any significant amount of the sum that it will cost to repair the roof. We do not have exact figures as yet but we think it will be in the region of £80 000 with the insurance pay out capped at £7500. Our church community and wider community are devastated by what has happened and, despite popular belief, the church does not receive any money from taxes or from central church to maintain its building. Therefore all of the money apart from that paid out from the insurance and any grants that we might be able to secure will have to come from donations and fund raising. It is now a race against the clock to raise the money as there is every chance that any works would have to be complete by the end of September. The reason for this is that there are bats in the church and we would be required by law not to disturb their roosting season. We do not want to risk a winter without the roof repaired as there are no guarantees with a temporary cover that there wouldn't be any water ingress in bad weather conditions, with snow obviously being a major concern. The interior of the church has not been affected thanks to the quick actions of the roofer and the community and we would not want the interior of this beautiful building to be spoilt. Therefore so we are requesting help both financially and from volunteers who would be willing to help us to raise funds and apply for grants. We hope to set up a crowd funding page shortly, but in the meantime if you would like to donate please contact the church warden Mr Malcolm Green on 01522 811055 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. If you can offer any practical help in fundraising or grant applications please contact the Rector. A massive thank you to all who have and are supporting us at this difficult time.