Overview Details Church of St Mary, High Bickington St. Mary’s Church, High Bickington is a Grade I listed building located on the edge of the village in North Devon. It is set within a level landscape however High Bickington village is relatively high within the wider landscape. For this reason the west tower is fairly exposed and often subjected to high levels of wind driven rain.A notable aspect of the church is the extent of survival of fabric of the 12th century church which can be seen on arrival at the doorway with its complicated series of carved rounded arches. An outstanding feature of the church is its ancient carved wood, particularly the fifteenth and sixteenth century bench ends.It was noted that stones were becoming loose and cracked on the tower buttresses in the 2001 and 2006 Quinquennials. Stones had been falling from the buttresses in increasing numbers over the past few years and the area at the bottom of the tower where most stones fall had been fenced off to exclude pedestrians for over 5 years.The church roofs, valleys and rainwater goods were the subject of an EH / HLF joint scheme grant aid in 2009/10 and are now in good repair, but the tower buttress works were excluded. Since 2010/11 the quantity of stones falling off and the development of cracks through the walls had accelerated in the heavy rainfall and harsh winters of recent years.The bells were stopped ringing in January 2010 because of the impact of vibration transmitting through the frame affecting the stonework. This was a sad blow for the community with a long bell ringing tradition and a locally renowned team of ringers.The parish applied to the EH/HLF for urgent high level repairs and was awarded a stage 1 development grant. This enabled the PCC to appoint Jonathan Rhind Architects to begin the necessary investigation work into the cause and extent of the problem.In conjunction with other consultants and following a thorough opening up inspection, Jonathan Rhind Architects produced a detailed specification for the conservative repair of the failing masonry and for the overhaul of the bells and bell frame.Jonathan Rhind Architects specified substantially rebuilding the southwest and southeast buttresses with elements of rebuilding of the northwest buttress and repairs to the northeast buttress. It was specified that all stones were numbered, with locally sourced replacement stones introduced where original stones had either delaminated or fractured. Traditional materials and techniques were specified alongside some discreet modern interventions such as the use of Heli-ties and bedjoint reinforcement in order to improve the connectivity between the buttresses and the principal tower walls.Following a rigorous grant application and tendering process, work began on site in July 2014 with the aid of a Heritage Lottery Fund grant.Jonathan Rhind Architects worked closely with specialist contractor’s Carrek & Bell Hangers - Nicholson Engineering, overseeing the careful repair works ensuring that they were carried out sensitively, safely and to a high quality.The project was completed in February 2015 on time and on budget Download project card (406 KB pdf) Client − PCC Church of St. Mary, High Bickington Status − Completed (2015) Contract Value − £195,000 Structural Engineer − StructuralEngineer Ecology − Richard Green Ecology Contractor − Carrek & Nicholson Engineering (Bell Works) Quantity Surveyor − Alec Painter - Mildred Howells
