Photographs of the building work in progress
This page includes a series of photographs tracking the progress of the building work. It may be slow to load over dial-up links. You can use the links here to jump to any point in the timeline.
May 1867 | 1950s | Oct 2006 | Nov 2006 | Dec 2006 | Feb 2007 | Apr 2007 | May 2007 | June 2007
How it all began...this recently-discovered picture is of the foundation stone-laying ceremony, on May 2, 1867. J Sidebottom Esq of Manchester laid the stone. (Further details of the history of the church can be found here.)
This is how the porch looked back in the 1950s. Notice the ornamental pinnacles in a good state of repair.
October 2006: The 21st Century porch, before the work began.
Two recent pictures - see how the stonework has eroded. The need for building work was growing - doing nothing was no longer an option.
November 23, 2006: Demolition of the old porch underway
December 5, 2006: The porch has been removed, the foundations dug and the site is being prepared for the piling contractor to arrive.
Meanwhile, a temporary screen has been erected inside the worship area...
...and the floor behind it removed, ready for the sub-floor and under-floor heating pipes. The picture is looking towards the corner where the kitchen for the community cafe will be built.
A reinforced concrete ring beam has been cast onto the piles, and concrete has been poured into the east end of the sanctuary as a foundation for the kitchen, toilets and gallery. The ring beam took 18 cubic yards - three mixer lorry loads - and the slab inside the church took another 12 cubic yards. Crushed stone was used to fill in around the ring beam, and the picture below shows the sub-floor for the extension being poured - yet more concrete, creating a foundation considerably more substantial than that for the original church! The forms currently filled with sand will be where the steel girders rest on the ring beam.
February 14, 2007: The steel frame for the extension has arrived (after a delay in manufacture) and these pictures show it being erected.
Time marches on (faster than I can keep up to date with taking pictures!) About a month ago, the walls were growing...
The roof is now watertight: the tower roof is complete, and the roofers are working on the lower level, cutting slates.
The door and window frames have been fitted glazing installed, and paint is being applied to walls and woodwork. This area will be landscaped to create a terrace next to the river - an ideal place for a cool drink in summer! If you're wondering about the white pipes inside the building, read on...
The Source will be heated by an environmentally responsible system. The heat will be provided by the earth's core via a Ground Source Heat Pump. Essentially, three loops of pipe will be set in some boreholes about 90 metres deep. Water will be pumped around those loops of pipe and warmed by the ground. As that heated water is pumped up, a heat exchanger will transfer that warmth into the under floor heating pipes seen below, and the now-cooled water is pumped back underground to be reheated and continue the cycle. The under floor heating inside is a very efficient system and helps to keep the heat where we want it - down by the people inside. Our aim is to install solar cells on the roof to drive the pumps and heat exchanger, which would make the system completely free to run and without producing any carbon dioxide emissions whatsoever. The pipes will be covered by a concrete screed and then carpet tiles will be laid over that. (Work is also planned for this summer to install under floor heating in the main church worship area, although this will initially at least be run from a conventional gas boiler.)
© 2006 Sleaford United Reformed Church
