BATCOMBE
REP & DISTRIBUTOR: Johnny Gibbs jg@intramar.co.uk 83187
Photo: Rufus Fox
Batcombe church repairs
One of Britain’s characteristics is the frequency, variety, beauty and value to the community at large of more than 13,000 churches. Each could tell a story or two, if only it could speak. Batcombe village church is no exception. It is thought provoking to think that while the size of the village has ebbed and flowed over the past 800 years, as inhabitants and houses have come and gone, yet the church building on the slopes of Batcombe Down, at the head of the Wriggle Valley, has stood and watched over momentous events such as the Black Death, the Reformation, the Civil War, the Glorious Revolution, the 6
two World Wars and world-changing eras such as the Agricultural Revolution and Industrial Revolutions; and it will stand and watch as the Digital and Green Energy Revolutions run their course. Churchgoer or not, and whatever one’s faith or none, Batcombe Church symbolises the community and belongs to everyone. The picture overleaf shows the scaffolding in place to allow architects and engineers to design a solution ensuring the future of the church building against the damage to the roof timbers caused by death watch beetle and damp – inevitable given the building’s situation and the prevailing wind and weather at the top of the valley.
